Naruto: The Gutsiest Of All Tales
by SamHetfield
Summary: No one's ever wondered just what the heck was written in the Scroll of Seals... But then again, it was just a one-episode plot device to create one of the top shounen stories of all time, anyway... Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wives, Uzumaki Naruto will rise! Ladies'Man!Naruto. Smartass factor is a Kenchi618 ripoff. Sorry bro, but it's just too badass for me not to give it a try.
1. Rise Uzumaki Naruto! Or Is It Namikaze?

**A/N: Hey guys, SamHetfield on the road again. This one story is that other side project thingy I was telling you guys about as I was writing The Trial Of Time. It's basically another revamp of Naruto discovering his heritage, while kicking ass and taking names. Since he's becoming Genin right now, he will not become quite mature just yet. I might as well read Kenchi618's stories all over again to try and get the badass, acid-humored, ladies' man Naruto that I've always wanted to write, despite the fact that he looks like a dumbass in this one particular chapter. Don't worry, I'll work on that.**

**Speaking of ladies' man Naruto, I want to explain my reasoning for this character building. There's something about a well-written Naruto/many-girls story that it just feels… right. I mean… the guy is a fucking saint. He solves problems, uses the almighty Chiryou no Jutsu to make people think over their pain and suffering, he saves the day and the world AND still manages to be the good old-fashioned loud and obnoxious shounen hero that we all love. And he's too honest and kindhearted to simply hurt a girl's feelings, so you get the idea. After reading a few nice NaruXHarem stories, you kinda broaden your horizons, you know? I'm still a diehard NaruXHina fan, though, so you can expect that as this story goes on.**

**And not only that, I'm practicing something I've been eager to do in TOH but I was never able to. And that is putting soundtrack on the fanfic. I've seen it in rasEnshur1KEn's The Element Of Time, and it is downright awesome! Basically, I put a track, and you play it, either on your media player or finding it on the Internet. When it's finished, you either wait for the song to end, because it's closing off already, or you skip it to the end, because that's how Pierrot Studios works. If it works out alright, let me know. And if you want me to implement this on TOH, let me know as well.**

**And with that said, let's get this thing moving already. And as I told everyone previously, The Orange Hokage will have its next chapter updated by next Tuesday or earlier, so wait for that too. And that's a wrap. Enjoy the story!**

**Konohagakure no Sato, somewhere around the southwest forest, 1 AM...**

In an old and abandoned part of this forest, around a small wooden house once used for training and weapons storage, a young boy sat down, carrying a large scroll wrapped around his back. He had blonde hair as bright as the sun and deep cerulean blue eyes, as striking as the sky itself. But the most noticeable aspect of the young boy was certainly the three little whiskers on each side of his cheeks, which looked a bit like fox whiskers. Another noticeable trait was the bright orange jumpsuit he wore, which seemed to say "KILL ME NOW", considering the world that he lived in. Seriously, who the hell could wear that, for Kami's sake?

His name is Uzumaki Naruto, known as the most notorious prankster that the almighty village of Konoha has ever seen in its history. Just yesterday, his latest prank was painting the Hokage Monument with buckets and buckets of wall paint. How did he get those, no idea. And how did he maneuver Chuunin, Jounin and even ANBU itself with that hideous and attention-drawing orange jumpsuit, even less so. Maybe he might have SOME talent as a shinobi, if his stealth says anything. But his performance at the Academy says otherwise.

He had just failed the Genin Shiken for the third time IN A ROW this afternoon. His taijutsu was barely passable, his usual grades at written exams were far below average and his genjutsu was one of, if not THE worst seen in ages. He couldn't even make a Bunshin to save his life. Even if he did pass, he would have passed as the dobe, the dead-last. No one expected anything great coming from him. He was shunned, looked down upon and downright ridiculed for his pranks, grades and goofy attitude. Forever a loser.

And yet... he kept his foxy-grin in his face. Yet he kept trying, and yet he dreamed and went on and on about how he was going to become Hokage. Not only that, a Hokage even greater and stronger than all who came before, including the Yondaime. Everyone knew of him, of course they did. Namikaze Minato, the legendary hero responsible for the death of the almighty Kyuubi no Youko, the strongest and deadliest of all Bijuu. His feat was one all would remember forever...

Except it wasn't entirely true. As a Bijuu, the Kyuubi is immortal. Even if someone did manage to "kill" it, in a few years the chakra that was part of its constitution, alongside negative feelings would simply resurrect it. So the Yondaime had another approach on this. He decided to seal the creature away in a newborn baby. The **Hakke Fuuin no Shiki** he performed on the newborn would slowly seep some of the demon's chakra inside the boy's natural coils, granting him unimaginable powers, and talent beyond equal to become the strongest Jinchuuriki (Power of Human Sacrifice, aka Bijuu Host) in the Elemental Nations, and the one true hero of Konoha. The one who kept the Kyuubi caged, and saved Konoha every day by just breathing air.

The baby that was chosen to endure this task was none other than Uzumaki Naruto himself. He became the Jinchuuriki, but all hopes and dreams the Yondaime had on him were buried in the mud by the villagers, who didn't tell the difference between the container and the beast contained within. Their anger, fear and hatred on the Bijuu made them shun, mistreat and ignore him. Naruto hardly ever heard his own name being spoken. They only called him 'that boy', 'monster', 'him'... his name was not even mentioned. Nor his surname. Out there, somewhere in the ethereal planes, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina were probably weeping. Their sacrifice was not duly respected, and their son was in deep pain.

Yes, there was this particular point. Minato was secretly married to a beautiful red-haired woman, remnant of the legendary Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure no Sato, and Naruto was their son. The number of people who knew of this secret could be counted with one hand. In a way, it was better that the other hidden villages did not acknowledge the presence of the son of both the **Kiiroi Senkou** and the **Akai Chishio no Habanero**, otherwise war would be inevitable. On the other hand, if the villagers knew that the Yondaime was so brave to the point that he sacrificed his own son with this burden, people would not look down so much upon him.

But what's done is done. Because of his condition, shops overcharged him and gave him all kinds of spoiled and poisoned food. Weapon stores would give him blunt equipment. One of the many fabrics stores came up with the idea of giving him that hideous orange jumpsuit, so he could be easier to spot and kill. And finally the reason why he was in the forest, with that large scroll on his back: the Academy instructors completely screwed up his education and learning. There was but one Academy instructor who didn't mistreat him.

Umino Iruka felt some empathy for the young Jinchuuriki. Just like Naruto, he lost his parents to the Kyuubi. For some time he couldn't see the difference between Jinchuuriki and Bijuu, but after a while, watching and observing the boy and receiving advices from Sarutobi Hiruzen, reinstated Sandaime Hokage and surrogate grandfather of the young Jinchuuriki, he saw within him a dedicated and clever boy. Sure, his grades were terrible, but his creativity for pranks and his stealth skills were incredible. Seriously, avoiding ANBU-nins wearing that much orange? The kid deserved a fucking award. But it was the lack of knowledge in the basic Academy skills that didn't allow him to hand over a hitaiate to his somewhat surrogate otouto.

It was in this moment that Touji Mizuki, one of the many instructors who despised Naruto, decided to make his move and get what he truly wanted. He approached Naruto and told him about a special test within the Academy to help out some potential talents who could not go to waste. The test was simple enough: go to the Hokage's office, grab a huge-ass scroll hidden in one of the drawers, go to the forest to hide for a while and practice one or more jutsus from the large badass scroll, wait for Mizuki to come, deliver the scroll and Bam! You are now a proper, bonafide shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato. Thanks for your time and have a nice day.

And that was precisely what Naruto went on to do. Getting the scroll was much easier than he first thought. Yeah, he did get caught red-handed by Hiruzen, but one single **Oiroke no Jutsu** (**Sexy Jutsu**) rendered him unconscious from nasal bleeding. Old pervert... Naruto simply looked over a few drawers here and there, and easily enough, he grabbed the scroll and dashed towards the southwest forest borderline to practice the jutsu before delivering it to Mizuki. He was very happy with this new opportunity to achieve his dream.

"He he he he!" young Naruto cheered, sitting on the side of a tree. "Great! With the jutsus of this scroll, Mizuki-sensei will surely pass me and I'll get my own hitaiate! And then... Oh man, I can't even wait. Just one of the jutsus of this scroll will kick Sasuke-teme's ass! Sakura-chan will finally go out on a date with me, and then I'll be taking that hat off of Jiji's head in no time! Yosha! Let's do this, -Dattebayo!"

**Naruto: The Gutsiest Of All Tales**

**Chapter 1 – Rise, Uzumaki Naruto! … … Or Is It… Namikaze?**

Naruto unlocked the small tag that locked down the scroll and started unwrapping it to read it through. Since Naruto was not too good at reading, he felt the need of saying out loud what he read, to make sure that: One, he didn't make any mistakes while reading. Gee, what a dumbass. And two, to memorize it faster. So he read aloud the contents of the scroll, which were as followed:

**[Naruto OST: Kakashi no Theme]**

_**WARNING**: The techniques you are about to see are all labeled as Kinjutsu (forbidden jutsu). The concept of Kinjutsu is fairly simple, as its name suggests. It shall be labeled as such whatever jutsu that meets these two particular characteristics:_

_1 – If the jutsu takes a considerate amount of risk to use it, whether affecting the user, his comrades or even the battlefield in general. Anything that is used as a last resort, but takes too much of its toll is immediately to be considered forbidden to use, unless at the most inevitable situation possible._

_2 – If this jutsu goes against the laws of nature or moral conducts of men, not only the use of this jutsu will be forbidden, but the user itself may be brought to justice for whatever laws he broke to create or perform it. Honor might be reserved for samurai rather than ninja, but we are still human before anything else. Anyone who dares to disregard life so effortlessly for the sake of power and other petty ambitions will be punished, and hopefully its forbidden arts will be either forgotten, or improved on a more moral basis._

_If you had particularly memorable experiences using or facing people who used the jutsus, please write them down in the special section built just for that purpose. And remember to honor the Will of Fire and protect your home and friends every day._

_Senju Hashirama, Shodai Hokage._

Naruto was impressed. Are the jutsus on this scroll really so powerful that no one should learn to use them? Maybe Mizuki mistook it for another scroll, that's the only thing he could think of. Oh well, might as well go on with it and see what the fuss is all about with these jutsus.

"Let's see... first on the list is... **Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**... Aw, man! Why does it have to the a damn Bunshin? I suck at these motherfucking things, -Dattebayo!" Naruto just frowned and scoffed. Why the hell was there a Bunshin technique in this scroll? Wasn't it supposed to have only the most badass jutsus known to men? It was in this very moment that something hit him...

"Wait... It has **Kage** on the name... maybe it's some kind of overpowered Bunshin that only the KAGE could be able to perform it! Hah! Sometimes I impress myself with my cleverness... well, Bunshin or not, I'm so mastering this, -Dattebayo! Now, let's see how this thing works..." His trail of thought was a bit farfetched, but oh well. It was a very neat Bunshin nonetheless. But to hell with it, let's just read through the contents.

_**Kage Bunshin** and **Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_

_Basic Nature: Youton Ninpou;_

_Classification: Ninjutsu, Non-elemental Bunshin;_

_Recommended rank: Tokubetsu Jounin, B-rank kinjutsu;_

_Required hand signs: Tora (Tiger). But instead of the usual interlaced fingers, you turn the left hand 90° to the right (clockwise) to make a cross shape with your hands, and channel as much chakra as you can._

_Creator: Senju Tobirama, with collaborations from Sarutobi Sasuke and Uzumaki Ikamuzu._

**[End OST]**

Naruto widened his eyes as he saw this particular point, and for three reasons. One, the name of the creator. The Nidaime Hokage was one of the most powerful shinobi in existence due to his unheard mastery over the **Suiton** techniques. He never knew he was a creative mind. Well, there you have it. He learned something new about one of the old dudes he wanted to surpass, and it felt nice.

The second reason was the first collaborator. If he considered how much time must have been since this jutsu was created, and using basic math skills, he would assume that this Sarutobi Sasuke guy was probably Jiji's father. Who would have known that Sasuke's own name was inspired because of this old guy? Maybe he was really awesome. No, wait, cast those thoughts aside, you're not supposed to praise the Uchiha-teme, dammit!

But what really caught his attention was the Uzumaki name. Did that mean that Naruto had a family? And by the looks of it, a pretty badass one? He had to ask Jiji later. One so old as he was sure knew something about the Uzumaki name, he was certain of it. Naruto put these thoughts aside. He decided to keep reading through the scroll. Maybe he would find something else that was interesting while he was at it.

**[Naruto OST: Taiji / Naruto Shippuuden OST: Ninmu also fits just fine]**

_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** is the improved and final version of the basic Bunshin, and takes it to a whole new level of usability. The first aspect is that, with the Youton nature, instead of creating distracting illusions, it actually creates physical copies, that can fight and think for themselves, allowing the user to create a vast number of strategies with it. Not only that, as long as the Kage Bunshin keeps itself active, once the caster focus some of his chakra, the clone will restore most of its strength to keep fighting. The clone usually dispels itself after a solid hit, but depending on the amount of chakra put into it, the clone might last longer._

_Another positive aspect of this jutsu is its ability to return mental memory for the caster once the clone is dispelled. It means that, if the Kage Bunshin is sent on an enemy base to investigate it, once dispelled, the caster will regain the memories of the clone. It also means that the experience gained from mental training of any nature will be returned to the user, meaning that if the user is capable of creating, let's say 9 clones, and they all train for 2 hours, then the caster and its clones will accumulate a total of 20 hours of training, making it the ultimate training tool._

That's the part where Naruto got really excited about learning this jutsu. But then again, if you got the chance of using it for training and making yourself train to the bone, you could easily accumulate days, week, maybe even months of training in a short amount of time. That would probably make him have, by the end of a few months, or years, more training experience than all four Hokages combined. Another reason to be happy and eager to start practicing this jutsu and kicking their old fatasses. But let's keep reading, because it's not over.

_There are two drawbacks from it, though. The first is the mental backlash provided by the dispelling. If the caster of the jutsu has too many clones dispelled at the same time, the number of information flowing in his head will mostly make him have mental strains, making it a risky technique to use, even for most experienced shinobi._

_The second drawback is the chakra used for it. Not only the amount of chakra burst to use the technique is high enough, the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** also disperses the user's chakra among its clones. That is why it's able to return experience in the first place. Being composed of the person's own chakra, any kind of mental experience and strain will be returned to the original caster. But it also means that the caster will have part of his chakra reserves heavily affected._

_Picking the previous example of 9 clones being summoned, that would mean that the original caster has now only 10% of chakra within his system, which would mean certain death from sudden chakra depletion. The second being that with the 20 hours training regiment would also mean 20 hours of mental fatigue drilled in his head in a few seconds, also enough to kill most people from mental breakdown if not properly balanced. Unless you are an Uzumaki, don't try to use the **Tajuu** version._

_The original idea of the jutsu came from a battle against the Uchiha clan in the Warring States in a castle at what nowadays is the Imperial City of Hi no Kuni. Since the Kage Bunshin was formed of the user's chakra, the **Sharingan** could not easily pick the difference between clone and caster, fooling the enemy with numbers rather than the overall quality of the shinobi. It proved to be effective, and it was one of the main triggers for the victory of the Senju-Uzumaki alliance against the Uchiha, which lead to the treaty of peace that ended up with the founding of Konohagakure no Sato._

"Wow..." said a flabbergast Naruto, amazed with everything he read so far. "Man, I gotta learn this awesome jutsu right now, -Dattebayo! Let's see if there's anything more that I should know..."

**[End OST]**

_**Special Comments Section** – Tell us about your experience with **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**._

"_Well, first of all, I gotta hand it to my otouto. He was clever enough to come up with this technique. He was always the cold and calculating strategist of the bunch. And the Uzumakis! Dayum, whenever they used the **Kage Bunshin** it almost seemed like we had a couple extra armies. Gotta love the Uzumakis' amazingly high chakra levels. Can you imagine them having the chakra control of a medic-nin? Many memorable moments with this jutsu. Specially with Mito-chan. Having an Uzumaki for a wife is the best thing that ever came to me, I swear to Kami..."_

_***Senju Hashirama, Shodai Hokage***_

Naruto sweat-dropped when he read that particular line from the Shodai. Who would have thought that the legendary and almighty founder of Konoha was such a pervert? And wait a minute... once more the Uzumaki name appeared. Wife of THE Shodai? Damn, how come he never learned of these things? He had a Kami-damn family after all! Jiji owned him some serious explanation after this... Off to the next comment, then.

"_If I had one thing to say about the jutsu created by Tobirama-dono, is that it was our ultimate life savior. Uzushiogakure has been looking for a way to implement Bunshins in our Academy curriculum, but most of our young children already have too much chakra and too little control to perform them, and we can't afford to use disruption seals on children who haven't hit mature chakra coils yet. Having the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** improved everything."_

"_It's unfortunate that it cannot be implemented on Konoha due to its dangerous nature, but oh well, they have many strong clans as it is. Uzushio belongs to the Uzumaki clan alone. This great step forward in our educational system will certainly make Uzushiogakure become the Sixth Great Village one day. Our eternal debt to Tobirama-dono for this amazing technique. I'm glad to have tagged along."_

_***Uzumaki Ikamuzu, Shodai Uzukage***_

Naruto widened his eyes in surprise with his possible ancestor's statement. Did they really had this jutsu as part of the curriculum? Wow, the children back then must have been fucking awesome! The whole Uzumaki clan must have been awesome! He was probably awesome as well! He wish he could have been taught about these things at the Academy. Damned instructors, all of them useless, good-for-nothing, sons of... Not Iruka, though. Iruka was cool. Oh well, let's just keep reading.

**[Naruto OST: Fooling Mode]**

"_When Tobirama-san asked me for help with his new Bunshin I though to myself 'Are you fucking joking me, Tobi?' But then he told me about the true conception and nature of the jutsu, and then I realized it truly was a challenge worthy of his caliber. Me, Tobirama-san and Ikamuzu-sama were inside the Senju's bathhouse brainstorming, when we reached a stalemate, until I got this great idea of implementing **Youton**. After all, despite the fact that it's a chakra-splitting kind of jutsu, it still requires the imagination of creating something purely physical."_

"_When Ikamuzu-sama tested it out (he had the Uzumakis' huge chakra reserves to avoid dying, after all), guess what. Success! We were so happy with the end result that we ran around the Senju compound shouting 'Eureka!' Of course, Mito-sama beat us to a bloody pulp because we were running around wrapped in our towels. Damn it, I forgot how strong she was when she was angry. But then again, all the Uzumakis are... Hashirama-sama is so damn lucky to have her as a wife, she certainly knows how to kick some ass when the situation demands it."_

"_Anyway, I left the idea of extending the **Kage Bunshin** to our kunai and shuriken, but Tobirama-san said he would entrust this task to my yet unborn son, whom he promised to adopt as apprentice in that new Genin cell formation Hashirama-sama and Madara-sama were talking about. I'm certain Hiruzen will be up to this task. Heck, he might make it to Hokage if he's taking apprenticeship from Tobirama-san. Well, that's all I have to say about this wonderful experience with my good friends. I think I can now join my ancestors with honor in my heart."_

_***Sarutobi Sasuke, Head of the Sarutobi Clan***_

**[End OST]**

"Whew, that was long..." said a panting Naruto. He really had to learn how to read in silence. Maybe if he learned this jutsu, he would work with that more often. The next two comments were from some guys named Jiraiya and Hatake Kakashi. Not that it mattered much to our blonde friend, anyway. "Okay, last comment. After that, I'll be practicing, -Dattebayo!" He started reading the last comment. Which was probably the one who would turn his whole life upside-down. Well, more than he had anyway, being a loudmouth prankster and all.

"_The first time I saw the __**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**__ was when I sparred with Kushina a week before our first date. I heard of it, but not even Jiraiya-sensei performed it during training sessions. But then again, he left to fight at the war right after the first few months. I never thought she could be able to create such a large amount of them, even being an Uzumaki. If I knew back then that all my experiences with her would be so amazing and memorable I should have asked her out earlier."_

"_When I became Hokage, __**Kage Bunshin**__ was my life savior against that cursed paperwork. Once again, I gotta thank Kushina for that. She was complaining about me never having time for her, and I think that it hit her that I should put the clones in service while I'd take care of her. And now I officially loath pregnant women. And I swear to Kami, if my son ever, and I mean EVER inherit her -Dattebane twitch or something alike, I'm finding Orochimaru, forgiving him for all those awful crimes he committed and have him be his Jounin sensei, commander and senpai!"_

"_Anyway, if you don't praise The Log, at least praise the Kage Bunshin. But if you're a Hokage like me, don't use it for paperwork 24/7, the mental strain will be unbearable. Maybe that's why I ended up impregnating Kushina in the first place, I was too stressed to be worried about birth control... Naruto, if you're somehow reading this, don't repeat your old man's mistakes. And don't pick up your mother's -Dattebane twitch, I've had enough as it is!"_

"_... … … Don't tell your mother that, though, unless you want to know why she is called the __**Akai Chishio no Habanero**__..."_

_***Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage***_

A loud thud echoed through the forest. The scroll slipped off Naruto's hands and fell on the floor. Damn, that thing was heavy to produce that sound! Meanwhile, the young Jinchuuriki just stood there, processing what he had just read. Did he really read what he just read? Did the Yondaime motherfucking Hokage just called Naruto his son? He messed around with that monument yesterday, hell, he kept admiring it for years by now, and neither he, nor anyone in this entire Kami damn village ever bothered to see the resemblance. It just hit him. He was the son of the Yondaime. THE YONDAIME!

And if this Kushina woman, who apparently was her mother, was scary enough to bring shivers to the **Kiiroi Senkou**, then she was also a force to be reckoned with. And once again, she was an Uzumaki, just like the Mito woman, the Uzukage Ikamuzu and him. Damn, he was part of a whole family of nobles! Badass nobles, to top it all off! But if that was the case then, why did he keep failing the Academy exams? Why did everyone shunned , despised and wanted him gone, maybe dead? Why couldn't anyone call him by his name, nor his surname? Both of them, by the way. It was only 'him', 'that thing', 'monster'... He then did something he haven't done in 5 years.

He started crying.

He cried for his life, that was as shitty as shitty could get. He cried for his performance, which labeled him as a major failure, a denial, a true pariah. Never to be acknowledged, never to be recognized. And he cried for his parents. But unlike the previous times, which he would simply wonder where or who they were, and why did they leave him alone... This time he cried because they were truly gone. He was slightly relieved to know that they died protecting Konoha, at least that was good enough.

After a few minutes, Naruto swept away his tears. He had to. He was the son of the Yondaime and a badass Uzumaki. And he'd be damned if he ever looked weak in front of others. "_Okay then..._" he though, taking a deep breath. "_I turn my left fingers clockwise to turn the Tora seal into a cross, and I focus as much chakra as I can... And I have to think of something truly physical... … … … … Got it!_"

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

A puff of smoke appeared, and it seeped away to reveal... nothing. He focused chakra, but he didn't get quite right the physical aspect. "_Dammit! Okay, let's try it again..._"

**Meanwhile, at the Hokage Tower...**

**[Naruto OST: Nervous]**

"The boy has gone far enough, Hokage-sama!" shouted a random Jounin, with a few shouts of agreement of the others gathered there. A Chuunin stepped forward to speak. "That scroll has techniques labeled forbidden by you and the other Hokages. If anyone uses whatever is on that scroll, Konoha might be in great danger!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, was thinking about what happened in the last 30 minutes or so. Naruto knocked him down with that perverted **Oiroke no Jutsu** of his, stole the Forbidden Scroll and was never seen again since that. Even he knew Naruto was not a petty thief. He must have had a reason to take the scroll away. But before he could try and locate Naruto with his crystal ball, he had to make sure that he was still around Konoha.

"He must still be around Konoha." he said. "I want you to find him and bring him to me. And please, don't harm him. Disperse!"

"Hai!" was the shout in unison of all the Chuunin and Jounin gathered, who quickly scattered around to find the young Jinchuuriki. Among them, there were two in special. The first was Umino Iruka, his instructor and somewhat surrogate aniki. Jumping across rooftops, his only thought was finding Naruto before anyone else did something bad to him. "_Damn it, Naruto. Where are you...?_"

The second person was Touji Mizuki, the one who gave him the idea of stealing the scroll in the first place. He was also thinking of nothing else but finding Naruto... but unlike Iruka, he had no intentions of helping him out... "_Hu hu hu... everything is going as I planned. All I have to do now is to find that demon and kill him... Then, I will take the scroll with me and my mission will be complete. The storm will be unstoppable!_"

**[End OST]**

**Two hours later...**

One REALLY tired Uzumaki Naruto was sitting beneath a tree close to the old warehouse in the forest. He was panting heavily from all the strain, both physical and mental, of his training. But hey, he's done it. He finally managed to learn some-fucking-thing. And he was damn good at it, too. Maybe that thing he read within the Scroll of Seals about Uzumakis having ridiculously huge chakra reserves was right after all, he still had some gas left.

But before he could finish resting up, he felt something closing in. Before he could raise his head and see if there was someone nearby, he heard footsteps and a faint shadow forming in front of him. He gathered some of his remaining strength to look upwards and see Iruka, who seemed a bit tired, and very, VERY pissed off. "Hey... Na-ru-to..."

Naruto simply had a sheepish grin planted on his face, and a hand scratching his back. "He he he... I knew I could find you here, Iruka-sensei!" he said. Iruka couldn't help but cast his **Ninpou: Dai Kitou no Jutsu** at the young boy.

"**I WAS THE ONE WHO FOUND YOU, DAMMIT! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING WITH THIS SCROLL ANYWAY?**"

The young Jinchuuriki just blinked, a bit curious about Iruka's reaction. "...What? That's easy, sensei. I was training my ass off in here!" Iruka raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised with Naruto's answer. He took a better look at him. Indeed, Naruto's clothes were all ragged, and he seemed awfully tired. "_He's been training here by himself... all this time...?_" he thought. But there was still something off about it. What was he doing all the way here, anyways?

"Naruto..." he said, drawing his attention. "What are you doing with the Scroll of Seals anyway? And who told you of this place?" The blond knucklehead blinked again. What was the meaning of this? He knew that Iruka knew of the extra revaluation exam. Why bother asking? But he wasn't the friendly Jinchuuriki of the neighborhood for no reason, so he answered simply and bluntly.

"Why, Mizuki-sensei of course, -Dattebayo! He told me about everything. You know, the scroll, this place... and, of course, the extra revaluation exam so I couldn't fail the Genin Shiken!"

Iruka just stood there, trying to make sense of what Naruto told him. Why would Mizuki say something like that to poor, gullible Naruto? Did he try to take the Scroll of Seals for himself? Did he hope to drag Naruto in this mess to look as if he was innocent? "Naruto, there's something I have to tell-"

**[Naruto OST: Nervous]**

Before Iruka finished talking, though, a volley of kunai flew towards them. Iruka was quick enough to shove Naruto away and receive all the damage. Despite the damages suffered, he looked upwards to check out the source of the attack. And there he was. Touji Mizuki, on top of a tree branch, carrying 2 Fuuma Shuriken on his back.

"So... that's what you were planning after all..." said Iruka, removing a kunai stuck on his leg and wincing in pain doing do. Mizuki merely chuckled. "Well, I am indeed surprised you found him before me..." he said. "But I'm quite in a hurry. That is why I have to ask you, Naruto, to hand over the scroll to me, pretty please."

Naruto was shocked at the scenery he found himself into, with one sensei stuck on the wall, bleeding from all those wounds, while the attacker, which happened to be another sensei, asking bluntly and without hesitation for the scroll. "Anosa, anosa... what the hell is going on here?" he asked.

Iruka, removing another kunai, kept glaring at his traitorous colleague as he addressed the young Jinchuuriki. "Naruto... no matter what happens, don't let him have this scroll! It contains techniques too dangerous for anyone to possess. Mizuki took advantage of you to try and get his hands on it!" Naruto took a step back and glared at the traitor, who simply shrugged.

"Naruto... Can't you see that Iruka is actually afraid of seeing you hanging around with the scroll?" he asked. "Just look at him! He's quivering in fear of you as we speak!" Naruto gasped, as he turned around to face his sensei. Iruka couldn't believe at what Mizuki was trying to pull off. He really wanted to crush poor Naruto's head. "Damn you Mizuki, what do you think you're talking about? Naruto, please believe me, don't listen to what he's saying..."

"Oh, he will listen to me..." said Mizuki. "Specially when I'm about to tell him something that is of his most concern..." Naruto widened his eyes. What in the world was supposed to be of his concern? Iruka knew well what Mizuki was up to now. "_Shit... _No! Stop, it's forbidden!"

"You know of the story of the demon fox, don't you, Naruto? How the Yondaime killed it and saved Konoha and all... it's your favorite story, isn't it? But you see, that day, October 10, a bit over 12 years ago... the villagers created a new law..."

"A law...?" asked a curious Naruto. This was something he didn't expect to hear all of a sudden.

"Yes. And this law forbade anyone to talk about the events that transpired that night, specially what concerns your direct involvement that specific night! You were forbidden to know the truth!"

"Me? Wha... what the hell is this all about? What kind of law is that? _Could it be... about my parentage?_" he thought for a moment. No, it felt somehow different. But what the hell was all that about, really?

"STOP, MIZUKI!" Iruka's shout fell on death ears. Nothing would stop Mizuki from telling the truth now.

"*chuckle* A law that forbids people to say that the demon fox was never killed by the Yondaime, but rather sealed inside a baby born on that night. More specifically... YOU!"

"... … eh?" was all that Naruto could say now. It wasn't THAT particular shocking news he expected, but oh well.

"What I'm trying to say... is that YOU are the Kyuubi no Youko that killed Iruka's parents and nearly razed our beloved village to the ground! Did you never stop to think about it...? How the villagers blatantly cursed you, ignored you, looked at you with contempt? THAT'S WHY!"

Naruto remembered all the suffering in his life for a moment. All of them, pointing at him, whispering things and calling him names that weren't his own... He finally knew why. He was finally aware of his condition... and yet there was something wrong. It was the Yondaime who did this to him. His own father... why? It was probably the greatest question in his mind. Tears filled his eyes. Then Mizuki's voice roared loudly.

"Everyone here hates you! Even Iruka hates you as well! And now, I'll put you out of your misery, demon... DIE!" he shouted, trowing one of his fuuma shuriken straight at the young Jinchuuriki.

**[End OST]**

Naruto only thought about getting the fuck out of Dodge now, but his legs betrayed him. He was desperately trying to run, but he just couldn't do it. That's when he heard Iruka's voice telling him to get down, which he immediately complied to, closing his eyes in terror. When he heard the sound of steel stabbing flesh, his eyes opened to see Iruka in front of him, shielding him from the fuuma shuriken. He coughed some blood, and a few drops fell on Naruto's face, who had the same question from before on the tip of his tongue.

"…why?"

**[Naruto OST: Sadness and Sorrow]**

"Because… we are the same…" Iruka answered, panting heavily and wincing in pain from the large weapon impaled on his back. But the pain was nothing compared to how sorry he felt about his young student.

"When my parents died… I had to live by myself, my classmates' parents couldn't look out for me… I was all alone, and even the instructors didn't look out for me… So I resorted to pranks and goofiness, so I could have all the attention… even if I was the one being laughed at… It was painful, and I never felt so bad before in my life…"

"Earlier this afternoon, after you failed the exam… Sandaime-sama called me to talk about you. He said that you are just like I was back then… No one at your side, no one to be proud of you, no one to say how much they loved you… people don't even call you by your name… So you resort to pranks and goofiness… just like I did… so you can draw people's attention… so they can see that you exist… "

Tears started to fall from Iruka's eyes. Some of them found their way towards Naruto's face, who was also on the verge of crying once again that night. "It's so painful, isn't it, Naruto…? It must be so much hard for you… *sob* to be all by yourself, to suffer so much because of something beyond your control… I'm so sorry… *sob* I'm truly sorry… If I had know how much the loneliness affected you I might have done something earlier… I could have done more for you, I SHOULD have done more for you… *sob* Please forgive me… Naruto…"

Mizuki stood there, watching that poor scenery with an amusingly cold smile. " *chuckle* Oh, pull the other one! Surely you won't believe him, Naruto… Iruka hates you for killing his parents, and he's afraid of what you can do with the Scroll of Seals!"

Naruto looked at the two sensei. Iruka's pain was not fake by a long shot. And Mizuki's words were not true at all. His mind was racing with unanswered questions, negative feelings and lack of trust towards anything else. But he knew he could always trust Iruka. And to protect this one precious person he did what he thought to be the best course of action.

He ran, hoping that Mizuki would go after him and Iruka would be safe from more harm. Iruka could merely watch Naruto running for his life. "Naruto...! NARUTOOO!" he shouted, afraid of the worst-case scenario. Mizuki just chuckled as he jumped from the tree branch.

"Naruto is not one who changes his heart just like that… If I had to guess, he ran towards the village. He will use the power of the Scroll of Seals and get his revenge on Konoha… You saw those eyes, didn't you, Iruka? Those eyes… they're not human… The demon fox already took over. *chuckle* Terrific. Now I can kill him and become a hero myself, even greater than that stupid Yondaime!"

Iruka lift himself up, and used some of his remaining strength to remove the fuuma shuriken from his back. "Don't say such things about Yondaime-sama… And don't you dare to address Naruto that way anymore. He. Is not. A DEMON!" he shouted, throwing the shuriken towards Mizuki, who dodged it easily enough.

"*yawn* Oh well. The way you are right now, I don't even have to worry about killing you just yet. I still have to get that scroll, so I'll just kill Naruto first!" Mizuki then jumped towards the trees to chase the young Jinchuuriki. Iruka winced in pain, but he was ready to give chase to Mizuki. "I won't let you touch him!"

**[End OST]**

Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched everything from his crystal ball. He saw how Naruto reacted to the news of his condition, and Iruka's actions to defend him. He sighed. He hoped things would have worked out better for Naruto... Oh well, no point crying over spilled milk now.

"_Damned Mizuki…_" he thought."_Now Naruto's head is filled with questions, rage, but most of all fear… I don't know much about what he can do with the Scroll of Seals, but he does have the power of the Kyuubi, even if the chances are one on a million of the seal breaking apart. But if he does break the seal, there won't be anything I can do but pray for all of us…_"

Back at our friendly Jinchuuriki of the neighborhood, he was hopping from tree to tree, when suddenly Iruka appeared at his side, jumping alongside him. "Naruto!" the sensei shouted. "Everything that Mizuki said was a lie, you know it! He's after the Scroll, and we can't let that happen. Hand it over to me!" But in less then 2 seconds, Naruto suddenly jumped towards Iruka and punched him in the gut, sending him quite a few yards away, both of them landing on the ground.

**[Naruto OST: Bad Situation]**

Iruka was panting heavily and groaning in pain. "Damn it, that hurt... How did..." he said, puffing in smoke and turning out to be Mizuki. "How did you find out that I wasn't Iruka...?" he asked. Naruto chuckled and puffed in smoke as well, turning out to be Iruka. "Does that answer you question, traitor?" he asked.

The other Chuunin chuckled. "So... you really are going to defend that chibi demon? That thing killed your parents, you know...? You could use the Scroll to do it, I'll let you have it for a few moments..." he said. Iruka coughed some blood and gave Mizuki a cold glare. "Even if I have to die..." he answered. "I won't let you... have the scroll... and hurt Naruto!" Meanwhile, the Jinchuuriki was behind a tree, holding the scroll in his hands and listening to everything.

"You're so dumb, Iruka..." Mizuki said. "Naruto and I are the same. Haven't you noticed yet?" Iruka's eyes showed some confusion. Mizuki enlightened him. "With the Scroll... and his powers... Naruto would be able to do anything he ever wanted to!"

"Think about it for a second, Iruka. You're supposed to be the brains here! The demon fox would definitely make use of the powers the Scroll of Seals has to offer!" Iruka chuckled, despite the pain. "You know... you are right. The demon fox would most certainly do that..."

Naruto's eyes widened. Did he just hear Iruka say that? Damn it, damn it, damn it all to hell! Not even Iruka, who was supposed to be his best friend in the whole wide world acknowledged him as a normal person. "_Not a single person..._" he thought. "_Not even my sensei... no one recognizes me!_" he felt something dark slowly taking over his heart. But then Iruka said something that made his eyes widen again, and the dark feeling to go away.

"But only demon foxes do that, anyway..."

**[End OST]**

"Huh?" Mizuki asked.

"Naruto isn't a demon fox, though... I know that... I always knew that... he's a dedicated student. And a very caring soul, always wanting to help and be recognized by his own efforts... Too bad he's clumsy, though... if only it weren't for that, maybe more people would acknowledge him..."

"He already felt too much pain in his heart to know how it feels like, and how it sucks to see people sad and being unable to do something... His dream is to become Hokage, be acknowledged and maybe then he can reach out those who feel pain like he does. He doesn't like to see people hurt, his pain is enough as it is. And let me tell you something, Mizuki... He is not a demon fox..."

**[Naruto OST: Naruto Main Theme]**

"He is... Uzumaki Naruto from Konohagakure no Sato!"

Naruto, still hidden, cried tears of joy. Someone did acknowledge him, after all. Then, Mizuki's voice cut the mood. "Feh... I was going for Naruto, first. But since you're a pain in the ass... I WILL KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!" he shouted, spinning his fuuma shuriken and going straight for Iruka.

"_So this is the end..._" Iruka thought. When suddenly, a orange blur appeared in the air. When he took a better look, it was Naruto kicking Mizuki in the jaw. The large shuriken flew throughout the forest aimlessly and Mizuki ate dirt. Serves the fucker right. "_N-Naruto? What are you doing here? Hide, you idiot!_"

Mizuki groaned in pain once more. "Damn you, gaki..." Naruto held a side of the Scroll under his right hand, and his eyes said it all. He was pissed. NO ONE hurt his precious people and get away with that. "Don't you dare lay another finger on Iruka-sensei..." he said, his blue eyes cold as ice from hell, emitting killing intent like nothing ever seen. "OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

Mizuki quickly reacted. "Feh! As some brainless stupid demon brat such as you would have a chance against me! I'll get rid of you with one blow!" Naruto made the cross-shape he trained his ass off for the last 2 damn hours. "Yeah, you try that, teme. I'll just make sure the pain comes back to you a thousand fold!" Mizuki was fumed in anger as it was, and that stupid kid just added fuel to the fire. He shouted once more. "Well then... Give me your worst, Kyuubi gaki!"

Well... it was his funeral.

"**KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!**"

Smoke erupted in the forest, and when it seeped away... Boom, motherfucker. There, surrounding Iruka and Mizuki, stood one thousand Narutos. And they were all physical copies, who could say Dattebayo and kick Mizuki's ass. And the night was still ahead. Way ahead.

Iruka couldn't find words to say how impressive his student looked right now. But then again, Naruto was already feeling as if he was the bee's knees. Seriously, though, making a thousand **Kage Bunshins**? Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wives! But first, he would have a word with Mizuki for pulling a fast one on him and Iruka. Next was Sandaime-jiji for hiding both his parentage and the Kyuubi from him. "Alrighty then..." said a few Narutos. "You told me to give my worst..." said another bunch. Then one approached Mizuki, clenching his fists.

"And I'll gladly do it, Mizuki-teme!" Said teme, though, was already shaking his legs and about to take a leak. He was not looking forward to the end of the night. He did the best thing he could do right now.

He shrieked. And many fists and kicks found the source of the noise and took care of it.

**[End OST]**

Around one our later or so, there was, lying on the floor, a bleeding Mizuki, along a few broken tooth and a strange fluid coming from his lower parts. Naruto looked at the mess he's done with the traitor and scratching the back of his head, he simply gave Iruka a sheepish grin. "He he he he... Not sure if I overdid it or if I went easy on him... What do you think, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka smirked. "Nah, I'm sure that your punishment is something Ibiki would do in a quiet interrogation and torture room, so you're cool with me. I'm just not sure you're still up to Anko's level of pain yet." Naruto just gave him a 'I don't know who you're talking about, but I assume that's a nice comparison' look and shrug.

As Naruto cleaned up the mess and picked the scroll so he could return it to the old Hokage, the good sensei looked at the young Jinchuuriki, impressed at his accomplishment. "_You know..._" he though. "_He just might surpass the previous Hokages indeed if he keeps going forward... Oh, right! I almost forgot!_ Hey, um... wait a moment Naruto!"

"Hmmm? What is it, Iruka-sensei?" the blonde boy asked, stopping mid-track. Iruka lift himself up from the tree and walked towards him. "Close your eyes, I have a gift for you."

**Meanwhile, close to the Hokage Tower...**

The sun was almost rising far on the horizon as many Chuunin and Jounin assigned to find Uzumaki Naruto were gathered and very worried about the results of the hunt. 'Did anyone find him?' 'Do you think he ran away from Konoha?' and 'how about we try looking over again?' were many of the murmurs that could be heard in the vicinity. Hiruzen's voice came from the Tower's door. "You don't have to worry anymore."

The shinobi gathered all turned around to look at their leader, curiosity in their faces. "Hokage-sama...?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen simply puffed some smoke from his pipe. "He's coming back."

**Back at the forest...**

"Sensei...? Are you done yet?" asked Naruto.

"Hold on..." he answered. "Just a little more... aaannndd... done! Alright, you can open your eyes now!"

**[Naruto Unreleased OST: Naruto Main Theme Slow Version – YouTube is your friend here]**

Naruto opened his eyes to see Iruka without his hitaiate, smiling and holding the blonde's goggles in his left hand. In this moment, the clouds were gone, giving space for the sun to shine deep down in the forest. The reflection of the sunlight was strong and Naruto simply heard Iruka say:

"Congratulations... you graduated. Welcome to the shinobi ranks, Uzumaki Naruto... genin of Konohagakure no Sato."

Naruto touched his forehead, and to his surprise, he indeed felt the cold steel of Iruka's hitaiate. His mouth gaped like a fish, and his eyes slowly filled themselves with water.

"Yosh!" Iruka shouted. "Now how about we celebrate your graduation with some Ichiraku's ramen, uh?" But before he could say anything else, he felt something heavy pushing him to the ground. It was Naruto, who in his state of bliss, jumped and embraced the one person in the whole village aside from the old Sarutobi and the Ichiraku family who acknowledged him.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" the young Jinchuuriki yelled, tears of joy running down his face. Iruka stood there, sat on the ground, comforting his surrogate otouto, with a smile on his face.

"_Naruto..._" he thought. "_The life of a shinobi is a hard one... well, I'll go over in more details once we go get your ramen..._ Alrighty then, young boy! Let's not forget to return the Scroll of Seals to Hokage-sama! You're still in a heap of trouble, you hear me?" he said in a authoritative tone.

"*groan* Fine..." answered Naruto. As he picked up the scroll on the ground, he remembered the contents of that special comments section of the **Kage Bunshin**, more specifically regarding his Uzumaki heritage, and also his bond with the Yondaime. He also had in his mind what Mizuki said about the Kyuubi... Was it really sealed inside him? Sandaime-jiji had a lot to answer him for. But he still had one predominant thought in his mind:

"_Tou-chan... I'm gonna be a Hokage even better than you were. Kaa-chan... I'm gonna be even stronger than you were. I'm gonna make both of you proud, or else my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto, -Dattebayo!_"

"… … …_Or is it…Namikaze?_"

**[End OST]**

**A/N: And we're done! Wow, I thought this was gonna take very little time and effort. Looks like I was wrong... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the start of this story, and I'm looking forward to write the next chapter. Don't miss it, by the way. And don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of it. If you have any suggestions or constructive critics to point it out, do it. I'll see you soon!**


	2. Old Drawers & Konohamaru, Kore!

**Yo! SamHetfield with another chapter of this story. Thanks for the quick reception, it felt nice. I hope it keeps going that way, and if it doesn't I'll just write a chapter with 30,000 words. And if that's not enough, I'll write 50,000 words, and if that's not enough, I'll - - - okay, my Rock Lee impression is over. Now for the replies... WARNING, I answer it as nice and good-mannered as I can, but I'm still ruthless against flamers.**

**Toche: Shut up. The Book of Log was one of the most awesome and creative things I've ever seen in my life. It actually makes a whole lot of sense, considering how often people use Kawarimi in the shinobi world. The fact that Konoha is an environmentalist community and the founder was a Senju who used Mokuton, and now that we finally have a world tree in the story (read chapter 646), it just makes this religion more likely to be used in fanfics and actually making sense. It's awesome and I like it.**

**If you guys are wondering if I'm going to praise The Log in this story, no I'm not. It was just a little inspirational touch I had, seeing that Kawarimi and Kage Bunshin are easily the most versatile jutsus in shinobi history and they should have religions of their own. It was just for the laughs. Although I do crave for a Log Pope award, so you guys better give me 400 reviews in this story, are we clear?**

**Mas2009****: Sorry if prologues aren't your thing... I happen to like them, they give a nice perspective to how things might roll out. Most of the best games I've played in my life have Prologues, and that made me consider them important for the plot development. It gives you and edge, you know? :)**

**ViolatedMonkey****: Probably my favorite line in this chapter as well. I'm very proud to have written it.**

**The Leader Of Monkeys****: Yeah, I got the jumpsuit thing wrong. He wears it because of the attention he wants to get, so people can see that he exists. But by seeing how Naruto manages his money in the story (and yes, there are those moments, even being just one or two), it's safe to assume that he has problems with shops and such. And the jumpsuit is a mix of four things: lack of fashion sense, attention seeking, preference towards the color, and the fact that probably it was indeed someone's idea to give him that. I'm not a fan of fillers, but one of them (Shippuuden EP176) had a pretty vague idea that people DO NOT sell things to him. And even if they do, it's either crap, or they want him to go away and stop disturbing them.**

**About the spoiled food, that was on Chapter 3, way back in 1999. If Naruto had the choice of buying fresh milk, for fuck's sake, he'd buy the God damn milk and be done with it. He might be a bit dumb, but he definitely can read a expiration date tag and make basic calendar math. If he buys spoiled milk, it's not because he fucking wants to!**

**About Kushina... Dude... don't go that way. Kushina is motherfucking scary. She's an Uzumaki, she's a Jinchuuriki, and she _got_ the nickname (didn't name herself, mind you) by beating the Academy boys to a pulp. Heck, she brought Genin down to their knees at what? 8 years old? That's badass right there, good sir... I'm pretty sure that she would give the Sannin a run for their money. Heck, she gave Minato a run for his money (that's a fact FROM canon, not fandom cliché, you can even look for it if you don't believe me). By the way, it was Kakashi who got the Number 1 Backwards Shinobi thing going around, so Naruto's not THAT idiotic to come up with that sort of marking for himself either.**

**Whew... that was long. Seriously, if you guys want to blame me for not knowing my shit, you could at least have a fucking backup plan. Kenchi618 rule number 11: If you wanna write a fanfic, at least have extent knowledge to make it enjoyable. And as my personal extension, which is rule 9, by the way... if you got something wrong, at least have the decency and creativity to work on the mistake to make it credible. If you don't like my work, fuck off!**

**sabery****: In a way, that's almost like asking me if I'd make a NejiHina story. It's not something I frown upon (heck, I'd like to have my way with a few hot cousins of mine), but at the same time, it's just... no.**

**And I think that's it, for now... Anything else you'd like to point out, well... keep reading, I guess. Fair disclaimer, though: Kishimoto owns this shit. That includes rights to shut down this fanfic if he chooses to do it so, I think... So you might as well read it, before it's too late. Don't say I didn't warn you. Gosh, I'm doing everything Kenchi does, ironic disclaimers included. I call it good influence, though.**

**Konohagakure no Sato, 2 hours after last chapter... (wow, that was lame)**

**[Naruto OST: Fooling Mode]**

Uzumaki Naruto and Umino Iruka stood in front of the old Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen. Naruto had on his back the scroll he stole from the old man's office, and he was sweating like a pig. Jiji was like the best old man in the world. A real grandfather figure. But he was the freaking Hokage. That meant something. And in Naruto's case, it meant...

A heavy scolding and many fair warnings about 'choosing the right people to trust' or something like that. Which he realized it would last forever. Kami dammit, he haven't slept in 25 hours! He woke up too early yesterday because he was too excited for the Genin Shiken, and he's been awake ever since.

"I understand you didn't have a proper education, and the village wasn't nice to you, but you should..." were some of Hiruzen's words from his long lecture, falling on deaf ears to everyone inside. Within Naruto's mind, the only thought he had was: "_*loooong groan* just shut up already..._" Iruka noticed how bored the young Jinchuuriki was. Heck, he was bored _as hell_ too. Sarutobi, at the prime of his patience and understanding, noticed the bored people and motioned Iruka to speak.

"Hokage-sama..." he said, yawning. "I think that Naruto had quite enough for today. He had a terrible day at the Academy, he was tricked into stealing the Scroll of Seals, and he was finally told of his tenant..."

"And my parentage." added Naruto. Hiruzen couldn't help but cough the smoke from his pipe in surprise to what he just heard. Either that, or he finally gave in to tuberculosis, or lung cancer... No, wait, he didn't. He channeled chakra on his throat constantly to avoid the damages from the tobacco. Old bastard... "Now, now... Naruto, where in the world have you learned about-"

"Special comments section." Naruto said, cutting off the old Hokage. Said Hokage facepalmed himself. He never expected that Minato would somehow use the Scroll of Seals as if it was your everyday journey log. It made sense, though. Who in the world would actually read it, other than people which he trusted and knew about the darkest secrets of the village? Reckless, but still clever, in a way. Hiruzen extended his hand, and Naruto quickly understood that he actually wanted to see the contents which Naruto mentioned. He skimmed through the scroll, and got to Minato's statement.

When he actually saw Minato ordering Naruto to avoid repeating his mistakes and stop saying –Dattebane or its variants, he burst in laughter.

Naruto snickered in amusement. "I know, right?" he said. "Somehow, Tou-chan was absolutely positive that I would pull this off. Creepy, if you ask me..." Hiruzen chuckled to Naruto's remark. Iruka stood there, unsure of what to say. "Um... Naruto, when you say Tou-chan... who are you referring to, if it doesn't kill to ask?"

Naruto actually didn't know what to say. He looked towards Hiruzen, who shrugged. "Well, it actually DOES kill to say it aloud... But I trust you, and I'm sure Naruto also trusts you to keep the secret, so... We were both referring to Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. He is Naruto's father."

Iruka's reaction was a fish mouth agape. Hiruzen and Naruto glanced towards the fish, then at each other, and back at the fish. They scoffed a bit before laughing again.

**[End OST]**

Iruka facepalmed himself. "I've been looking at that face for TWELVE YEARS and I never even considered the slightest possibility that you were related to him... I'm so stupid!" Naruto and Hiruzen chuckled with Iruka's remark. Suddenly, the blonde Jinchuuriki stopped smiling and looked down on the floor.

"I still have one question, though..." he said. "If he was the one who sealed the Kyuubi in me... it means that he wasn't exactly nominated to the 'Dad of the Year' award back then, right?" Hiruzen sighed. It was a really delicate subject, to say the very least. He puffed some smoke from his pipe and looked at Naruto right in the eye.

"I'll be very clear, Naruto: your father did NOT want to do this to you. But he had no choice. The Kyuubi was razing everything to the ground, and there was a lot going on back then. He didn't want Konoha to lose control of its Bijuu. He couldn't just sacrifice someone else's son. And even if he did, he had... no, he STILL has absolute faith that you will someday be able to become a capable Jinchuuriki and use the power within you to protect Konoha. Because you are your father's son. And having unconditional faith in your children is a father's duty. Those were his words to me before he died."

"He wanted you to be recognized as the one true hero of Konohagakure. By keeping the Kyuubi imprisoned and becoming a loyal shinobi, you would become Konoha's savior... But people ignored your father's wish. A bit because of their lack of knowledge in fuuinjutsu, but mostly because they were blinded by hatred, fear and angst. You had no idea just how terrible that night was for all of us. That's why they resent towards you so much... But please, understand that it's not your fault. You father really loved you, and trusted in you to do the right thing, for the sake of Konoha."

**[Naruto OST: Naruto Main Theme Slow Version / Naruto Shippuden OST: Sengunbanba also works]**

Naruto had his eyes closed, listening to everything and organizing his thoughts. True enough, his father had indeed too many troubles to handle. But at the same time he rest all of his hopes within him. The Yondaime expected him, as his son, to do great things. He was expected to protect Konoha every day. And he would do it. He opened his eyes, looking back at Sarutobi.

"Then it's up to me to make it stop... Until yesterday, I just wanted to become Hokage so that people would recognize me. But now that I know the truth... it's not about simple recognition anymore. From now on... I have to prove people wrong. I'll show them that I'm not a monster. I'm a shinobi. I live to serve and protect the place I love and call home. And I'll honor my father's wish and become Konoha's hero."

Hiruzen and Iruka looked at that young boy with a proud smile in both their faces. Those eyes... that look... it belonged to a true shinobi. Hiruzen didn't see eyes like this since the boy's father. It meant serious business. He puffed some smoke from his pipe, and gave Naruto a warm smile.

"Come back in two weeks to take the picture for your registration, then. Don't forget to wear something nice and fill this form I'm giving you. I have nothing else to say, except... Welcome to the shinobi force, Uzumaki Naruto." he said, giving his surrogate grandson the registration form.

"You got it, Jiji!" Naruto answered, with his foxy-grin. His smile suddenly vanished and he tilted his head, as if he was curious. "Anosa, anosa... just a question... What about my Namikaze surname?"

"That will wait until you become Jounin, alright?" Hiruzen answered. "Get a bit stronger before being able to back up the name as you'll face your father's enemies. The Uzumaki name by itself is trouble enough as it is, and we don't want you getting into more troubles than you already do, okay?"

"Hmmm... *sigh* okay, then... No Namikaze until Jounin. Can I...*yaaaaaaawn*...go home and sleep now?"

"By all means, do it. You've earned your rest, Naruto. Come by as soon as you can, though. Minato left a few things for you, and it's about time you took a hold on them, since you're aware of your heritage now, even if it's not public knowledge yet..." Naruto nodded. That was something he didn't want to miss.

And so the young Jinchuuriki made his way home. He's been awake for over 27 hours by now, and not even Kami would disturb him, now that he finally reached his comfy bed. By the next 24 hours, he would have to start dealing with lost inheritances, something to wear for the registration... oh right, he wanted to put the **Kage Bunshin** to good use to train a lot and impress everyone at the team selection gathering. "_For once, things are going smooth..._" he thought, before slumber took his mind away.

**[End OST]**

**Naruto: The Gutsiest Of All Tales**

**Chapter 2: Reopening Old Drawers... By The way, I'm Konohamaru, Kore!**

**24 hours later...**

"Alrighty then..." said a enthusiastic Uzumaki Naruto, walking towards a midsized house in the east district. It was slightly close to the commercial district, but it was right across the street that led to the Akimichi and Aburame compounds, two of Konoha's four noble clans, alongside the Uchihas and the Hyuugas, which were located in far and opposite sides of the village. They didn't get along very well.

If you looked from the outside, there was a small iron fence, and the yard had a few paper tags stuck on the ground. "_Hmmm... so these are the Kekkai seals Jiji was talking about..._" Naruto thought. "_Thank Kami I've never tried passing through this, or else I'd become miso meat..._" He reached his pouch and took a small blue scroll. He unwrapped it, showing two kanjis: **Kagi** and **Chishio**.

"_Now, what was that again...? Spill some blood in the __**Chishio**__ part..._" he cut his finger with a kunai and let some blood spill from the wound. "_Now wrap the scroll around the gate... focus some chakra..._" he formed a Ram seal to mold a bit of chakra. "_aaannndd... Done! The gate is opening, which means I'm really his son and I'm getting some neat thingys... nice!_" he thought, sliding the gate open and now heading to the door, which he opened easily enough, no fuuinjutsu required.

**[Road To Ninja OST: Rainy Day – Put the song on repeat mode, specially if you're a slow reader...]**

Naruto looked at the dark hallway that stood between the front door and the living room*. Many times he felt this void in his heart, whenever he came home with no one to greet him. This time it felt heavier. Probably because it's the house his parents have lived in, and the house he'd have lived in if they had survived 12 years ago. It was a new feeling, despite the homecoming sensation he had in his heart, as he opened the door to the living room.

"Tadaima...*" he said, hoping for anyone to answer 'O kaeri'*. It didn't matter if it was a whisper, the wind or even a ghost. He hoped to hear that soothing word sometime in his life...

No one answered, though.

Naruto looked at the empty living room. The lights were cut off, and the fact that no one entered this house for more than 12 years didn't contribute for the emptiness feeling Naruto had in his heart right now. For one small moment he hoped for a sign of life, but he couldn't find it. He walked slowly towards a few windows and opened them, to let the light enter the room and make his stroll through the house a bit easier. He noticed that the living room and the kitchen were mixed in one large room, separated by a thin wall, with no door. He figured that it would help in case of many visitors in a single afternoon.

He walked towards the left hall, and on the first door there was a restroom. It even had a tag over the door. It wasn't exactly odd, but it did feel a bit weird to have a restroom right at the beginning of the hall. Maybe it was meant to be used by the visitors, while the other bedrooms had bathrooms of their own. He decided to close the restroom and look around the other two doors.

The second door had a tag on top of it saying: PRIVATE. On the doorknob a small kanji for **Chishio** could be seen. "_Must be Tou-chan's library..._" Naruto thought. "_Or maybe his office. Whatever it is, I'll check it out after I'm done with the other rooms._" The third door had another tag: Naruto. He opened the door, and the sight of the room filled his eyes with water.

It was a small room, fit for a baby. The cradle in the right side was quite beautiful. It was white, although it had a few small orange details. On the ceiling, a small planetarium, with shurikens for stars and kunais for comets. Naruto chuckled at the scenery, and imagined a baby version of himself playing with it. The walls and ceiling had this odd combination of blue, yellow, red and orange. It didn't hurt one's eyesight, it was just... curious, also considering the white/orange cradle. "_Is this supposed to represent my parents and I somehow...?_" he though, thinking back of their markings in the Bingo Book. It actually made sense.

The toys spread around the room also made the room feel babyish. There was even a small orange fox plush doll. It looked a bit like the Kyuubi, although it didn't have nine tails. "_They must have worked hard to find the proper toys for me to play with..._" he though, a small tear running down through his face, as well as a faint smile. He closed the door and made his way to the right hallway, which also had three doors, although they were located at the other side of the wall.

The first room had another PRIVATE tag with a **Chishio** kanji printed on the doorknob. Naruto would check on that later, like the other room. If the first private door was his father's office, this one probably lead to the library. He looked at the next room. The tag "Minato & Kushina" was visible. "_This is..._" Naruto didn't think twice. He opened the door and saw yet another heartbreaking scenery.

A large queen-sized bed, with a small bed table on each side of it. On the top of the right one Naruto saw an odd-looking kunai. For anyone who saw it before, it was a sight for sore eyes. The tri-pronged kunai Minato used in conjunction for his own version of the Nidaime's **Hiraishin no Jutsu**, which granted him the **Kiiroi Senkou** name in the Bingo Book. There was also a simple-looking book. It didn't have any fancy cover like many others. It plainly had the title written on the front. Naruto picked it up.

"Tales Of A Gutsy Ninja..." he whispered. It looked interesting. On the introduction page, it contained some information about the author. Jiraiya... he saw that name before... "_Oh, right. Special comments section of the Scroll... not that I paid much attention to his comment, anyway..._" he thought. On a page that was supposed to be blank, an autograph of sorts:

"_To Namikaze Minato, my most cherished apprentice, and the one I believe to be the Child of Prophecy. May this book's story motivate you to follow the righteous path towards true peace. -Jiraiya of the Sannin-_"

Naruto was a bit impressed by this statement. Was his father supposed to save the world or something? Well, no one would know for certain now. Maybe if this Jiraiya guy that happens to be his teacher is still alive, he ought to know more about it. "_Maybe I'll read the book later as well..._" Naruto thought. He put it back at his dad's bed table, opened the drawer and saw nothing. He closed it and went towards the other one, which was from his mother Kushina.

On top of the bed table there was a small picture frame. Naruto picked it up, and as he saw the contents, he couldn't hold his tears any longer.

Minato had his right knee on the floor while his arms wrapped around Kushina's small back, and his head rest on her stomach, which clearly showed that she was at least eight months pregnant. Naruto stood there, crying his heart out. For more than 12 years he's been alone... people glared at him, called him names, and he had to take it all in. After a while the insults didn't hurt as much. But what REALLY hurt him more than anything... were the small acts of fatherly affection that he saw once in a while

When he saw a kid getting treated, or hugged, or holding hands at the playground... It always reminded him of something he would never be able to have. Someone to take him to bet and tell a story... someone to help him out with the lessons of the Academy... someone who made him breakfast and said "I love you"...

Someone that answered 'O kaeri' whenever he got home and said 'Tadaima'...

After a few minutes sobbing and weeping, Naruto took slow and deep breaths. He finally found out about his heritage, his status as Jinchuuriki and his role as Konohagakure's protector. From now on, he had to be twice as strong as he managed to be over the years. "_Crying over what's history won't solve anything..._" he thought. "_I learned this the worst way a while ago, anyway... Today is a new day, and tomorrow will be even newer. I WILL honor my parents' legacy. Now, which of those two rooms is the library, I wonder...?_"

And so, the young Jinchuuriki recomposed himself and took the first great step towards his dream to become Hokage... but this time, doing it the right way.

**[End OST – Admit it, you teared up a bit]**

**Hokage's Office, 10 days later...**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was now examining the picture taken by the young Uzumaki Naruto, alongside his shinobi registration and overall characteristics he put on the form.

_Shinobi ID 102607, Uzumaki Naruto_

_Birthday October 10, currently 12 years old_

"_My hobbies include training and pranking. Miso Ramen from Ichiraku's is the food of the gods. My most precious belongings are Gama-chan, the goggles I got as a birthday gift from an anonymous source and a torn page from the Holy Book of the Log just for the laughs."_

The picture... well, it wasn't Naruto...ish. The Uzumaki Naruto from two weeks ago would have probably put some random kabuki warpaint to look intimidating and idiotic at the same time. Mostly the latter. But true to his family roots, he was an unpredictable little guy. There he was, with a blue one-piece vest (much alike the standard Jounin vest), and over it a black jacket with orange details on the extremes and the inside. He also wore black pants, with orange side stripes, as well as a pair of black fingerless gloves, with red details on the palms. His blue shinobi sandals were also a part of the new set. And to complete it, the usual Uzumaki red swirl on the back of both the jacket and the vest (although you couldn't see it, but it was there anyway), and a white version of the swirl knitted just under the left shoulder.

Of course, you only saw half of it on the photograph. The rest of it (well, actually HIM in one piece, not just the other half) was sitting right in front of Sarutobi, with that 'now what?' look on his face. The old Hokage allowed himself a warm smile. Maybe it was a good idea to let him get his parents' inheritances. If he knew that Naruto would mature so much in the course of two weeks he should have tried it earlier. Oh well, crying over spilled milk was not an option anymore.

"Well..." said Hiruzen. "I expected some old school prank from you this time around, Naruto... but oh well, it helps having a decent registration, so good job on that one. Now, where is your hitaiate?"

"I'm saving it for the gathering, -Datebayo..." Naruto answered. "Besides, that one belonged to Iruka-sensei, so I gave it back to him. I found an old one back at the big house, and I polished it a bit." Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. He remembered Minato having his hitaiate on when he died that night. Chances are that the hitaiate Naruto polished must have belonged to Kushina... Well, it was a good thing. Suddenly, a faint sound of metal could be heard. Before anyone had the time to react, someone came in.

It was a small boy, probably around 9 or 10 years old, wearing a yellow t-shirt, grayish-green shorts and an odd piece of headgear that combed his brown hair like a Nara's pineapple haircut. The most noticeable trait was the large blue scarf wrapped around him. It was twice his height, for Kami almighty! Not even Vincent Valentine had a scarf this large, and we're talking about Vincent fucking Valentine here, just so you know.

**[Naruto OST: Strong And Strike]**

"JIJI! FIGHT ME, KORE*!" the bout shouted, rushing towards the old Hokage, with a shuriken in his hand. "TREMBLE BEFORE THE FUTURE GODAIME HOKAGE, KONOHAMARU-SAMA-"

**[Abrupt OST cut]**

Before the young brat could say anything further, he tripped on his own large scarf. Hah! Serves him right... Seriously, who bought him that thing? It was almost as bad as Naruto's jumpsuit, and Naruto could actually sneak around wearing that. This boy, though...

"Itaaaaai..." the brat whined. Naruto looked at him, his face deadpan, although he was mentally erupting in laughter. Hiruzen just adjusted his hat, and emitting a bored sigh. "_Will he EVER quit...?_" he thought. Before could anyone said anything else, the brat groaned again. "Who put a trap on the way, kore?" he asked.

A tall and skinny Jounin with the headband wrapped around the head, and wearing Aburame-like sunglasses came in, startled. "Dear me, are you alright Omago-sama? I've checked the vicinity, and no traps have been found!" he shouted, obviously worried about the brat. Although as he took a better look at the room, his eyes stumbled upon another 'brat', who was wondering who the hell were those weirdos. The Jounin looked a bit off. "_That is..._" is thought. "_Hn... The Kyuubi gaki... The loser I hate the most!_"

**[Naruto OST: Fooling Mode]**

The little punk started walking towards Naruto, with that 'I own this shit' walk, pointing his finger at his face. Before Naruto could say anything, Konohamaru beat him to it. "You! You were the one who put a trap on my way, didn't you, kore?"

Okay, now he's done it. Naruto popped a vein from his forehead out of the building anger and grabbed that Nara ripoff by the scarf. "You little teme! You fell your ass off by tripping in you own damned scarf!" The tall Jounin grimaced at the terrifying things the 'Kyuubi gaki' would do to Konohamaru, so he stepped in.

"Release him at once, you grunt! Don't you realize you are holding the Hokage's very own grandson?!" he shouted. Naruto rose an eyebrow. _This_ was supposed to be Jiji's blood-related grandson? Man, it sure didn't look like...

Okay, maybe the lines close to the eyes... and the brown hair... and the stamina of a monkey with its ass on fire... oh what the hell, he was a proper bonafide Sarutobi, alright... Said Sarutobi looked at the Jinchuuriki who was _this_ close to whacking him in the head. "_Feh! He stopped dead on his tracks, just like Ebisu-sensei and everyone else. Loser..._" he thought, before voicing his new-found superiority towards Naruto. "What's the matter, kore? Got scared of beating the Hokage's grandson and facing the consequences? You better-"

"I WOULDN'T GIVE A KYUUBI'S ASS IF HE WAS YOUR GRANDMOTHER! BAKA!" Naruto yelled, giving Konohagakure a well-deserved fist on the top of his head. The young Sarutobi yelped in pain. "_This guy... is different from the others..._" he thought, before going out cold. Ebisu stood there, absolutely frozen in disbelief. Someone actually knocked _the Hokage's grandson_ out cold. "WHAAAAAAAAT?" he yelled. The old Hokage just sighed and shook his head. This was turning out to be a hell of a long day.

Damned Uzumaki and his tendency of bringing chaos wherever he went... What were Minato and Kushina thinking, giving their son a name that was synonymous to 'Maelstrom'? That was ensured chaos, for heaven's sake! And he just had to have the mother's personality and the father's looks as well. Oh well... Sarutobi just looked as Naruto went his way.

Meanwhile, Konohamaru got up, groaning in pain and annoyance. Ebisu approached him. "Omago-sama, I advise you to not associate with that scum." he said. "He will just hinder you. You do want to be Godaime Hokage, right?" Ebisu took a quick pause to adjust his sunglasses and smirk a bit. "Then do not worry. For I, Tokubetsu Jounin and Elite Instructor Ebisu, will show you the quickest way to reach your goal!" Sheesh, the guy was nearly Uchiha-like arrogant. Even Konohamaru knew that.

If you're wondering how one would know that, well... for starters, Konohamaru was already gone for quite a while. It took a few seconds for Ebisu to actually notice that and once again go full despair mode. "He's gone AGAIN?!"

"He seems to have gone after Naruto..." said Hiruzen, a bit bored. Ebisu just shouted "WHAT?" before going out, screaming in desperation "OMAGO-SAMA!" in hope of finding Konohamaru before he found Naruto. Hiruzen leaned back on his chair. A bit tired of all the action, despite being still early. "_Yare, yare... that was the 20th attack just today..._" he thought."_And now he's after Naruto. I hope nothing stupid comes from those two hanging around together..._"

**[End OST]**

**Meanwhile, on the streets of Konohagakure...**

Naruto was walking towards one of the deserted training fields on the outskirts of the village. Ever since he packed up his belongings to move in to his parents' house, he had a more thorough look on the two rooms he didn't visit so far. There was one room that he forgot to look on that day. It had no tag over the door, and the room itself was empty. Naruto decided to make it his personal bedroom. The other one was just too small for him, and he felt like leaving that room untouched, as a bittersweet reminder that his parents wanted him to be a happy child. The other bedroom belonged to his parents, and he wanted to keep that way as well. Besides, the deposit had a small space that could be used as a bathroom, so it helped.

The private room on the left hall was an experiment room of sorts. It had a small circular ring on the middle of the room and two large tables that filled one of the walls, and many papers on them, containing some sort of information regarding powerful ninjutsu. Naruto decided to leave the room untouched for quite a while. It would be better if he came back more experienced and prepared to face whatever his parents were preparing themselves to face dead on. He wanted to live a bit longer.

The locked room on the right hall was the library. It contained a relatively high number of scrolls, papers and many many more useful tools for a shinobi. The most overwhelming aspect was the absurd quantity of paper tags and ink. But then again, Kushina was an Uzumaki and Minato was a quick learner. Aside from all of that paper, there were several Fuuton and Suiton scrolls, as well as a few non-elemental ninjutsu. There were two boxes containing weapons, including Minato's **Hiraishin** kunais. Well, at least Naruto wouldn't be spending money with weapons for a while.

Through the last few days, Naruto spent most of his time summoning unheard amounts of **Kage Bunshins** to read through most of the contents and to put them to practice. He thought about it and it hit him: aside from his stealth skills and creativity to pull off pranks and traps, his general skills... well, they sucked. He decided to go over the Academy curriculum again, just to reshape his general knowledge of stuff. He owed Tobirama his deepest gratitude for creating this awesome jutsu. It certainly helped a lot. Yeah, your brain would mostly fry because of the overwhelming amount of information coming at once, but he was an Uzumaki. No worries there.

Hiruzen also helped out. Thanks to his position as Hokage, he could pull a few strings here and there to make Naruto's new house up and running again. Which would mean that it now had water and electricity again.

Yay.

But even with all of those great things going on, Naruto was still a little pissed off. Specially because of one small pebble on his way. Well, not a small pebble, actually. A rock. A huge _square_ rock. With eyes. Creepy as fuck. After walking a bit more, it wasn't a rock anymore. It was a wooden wall. With the logs on horizontal leaning. Okay, enough of that shit.

"Will you stop following me already? You didn't even get the disguise right, you pipsqueak!" he shouted at the 'wall', which started laughing maniacally. "I see... you really are as skilled as they say." said Konohamaru as he put the 'disguise' away.

**[Naruto OST: Konohamaru's Theme]**

He walked towards the young Jinchuuriki.. "First you had my curiosity, now you have my attention. And that is why I decided that you are gonna be my sensei, kore!"

Right now, if a needle fell on the ground, you could probably hear it. Or maybe not, the streets of Konoha are known to be quite noisy. The wind also blows quite often. Maybe it's to create cool scenarios where two guys look at each other from a distance and the wind does that magic thing with the hair... But we're going off schedule enough as it is. Naruto looked at that noisy brat, his face deadpan.

"...Why?" Naruto asked. If he's gonna teach that pipsqueak, there's gotta be a hell of a good reason to do it, right? Konohamaru answered simply and bluntly. "I heard Jiji grumble something about you defeating him with a 'devastating Henge'. So if you know how to defeat Jiji, I want to learn it, kore!"

Naruto stopped for a while to think over. Now... when did that happen... Oh right, the **Oiroke no Jutsu**. Well, it certainly was a one-hit KO for an old pervert like Hiruzen. But he wouldn't teach that to a 9 year old that just happens to be the Hokage's grandson. That would bring him trouble. So he made his decision. "No."

Konohamaru quickly responded. "Please, please, please! I'll do anything, oyabun!*"

Okay, that make Naruto's ear perk up a little. After hearing Konohamaru shouting 'oyabun' a few more times, he felt a bit sheepish. "Okay, you leave me no choice, then... C'mon, I'll teach you. Let's head over to training ground 17, I have some work to do there anyway..." he said, as he started walking. Konohamaru was quick to obey him and follow.

**[End OST]**

**Meanwhile, somewhere around the Hokage Monument...**

Ebisu is not exactly the finest example of human being. He is arrogant and a bit of a hypocrite as well. But in no way he's a weakling. He might not have the brawls, but he has the brains. And for shinobis, that is by far the deadliest weapon you can have. And right now, his mind was simulating many ways to torture Naruto for being a bad influence for Konohamaru, in his convict opinion.

"_I am Ebisu, the Elite Instructor of Konohagakure no Sato, and I personally taught many people who had the potential of being worthy of the title of Hokage!_" he thought. "_And I'll be damned if that... _virus_ of a boy... ends up compromising Omago-sama's performance and future! Hokage-sama's favorite or not, I will remind him of his place in the world!_"

And so, he vanished in a quick **Shunshin no Jutsu**, determined to find both boys.

**Training Ground 17, 90 minutes later...**

"See, I knew you could do it. Not so hard after all, uh?" asked Naruto, seeing a panting Konohamaru on the ground, who spent nearly all of his chakra trying to perform a perfect **Henge no Jutsu**, and by extension the **Oiroke** as well. It merely required a few, let's say... models of inspiration. Naruto's army of **Kage Bunshin** helped a lot, by transforming themselves in many different people, and mostly women. Really pretty women. Really pretty women with minimal amounts of clothing.

It actually helped the original to learn something else. The fun part of the **Oiroke no Jutsu** was not all about getting naked. The expectation was almost as good as the final package, so getting the picture of a woman as she slowly stripped down... oh, that would knock down ANYONE with a perverted mind. Even the sturdiest ones would fall. Naruto had just mastered his one, only and deadly ero-ninjutsu. Maybe teaching the young Sarutobi was a good idea after all. Speaking of Konohamaru, he looked like shit. So Naruto decided to carry him to a small snacks stand, so they could have a lunch break and regain their strength.

"So... I'm curious about something." said Naruto, as they sat on a log to stuff their stomachs. "Why do you want to become Hokage so badly anyway?" Konohamaru flinched a bit with Naruto's questioning. But he knew that Naruto wouldn't be one to judge so harshly, so he answered truthfully.

"Ojii-chan was the one who named me Konohamaru... both as an honoring to Konoha and for good luck. But even with this name... even when it's so easy to say it, people never do. They only call me Omago-sama, like you saw earlier with Ebisu-sensei."

"They don't see me for who I am... They only see the Hokage's grandson, and nothing else. And it pisses me off, because it's almost like I'm no one. So that is why I'm after the title of Hokage. That way... they'll have to recognize _me_, and not Ojii-chan."

Naruto listened to everything with a ghost of a smirk. "_In a way..._" he thought. "_I used to be like him just a couple of weeks ago..._" That made him think a bit more. True enough, people only saw the Kyuubi, and not him. But what would happen if they knew that he was the son of the Yondaime? Probably the same thing that happens now, only backwards maybe. People would see the Yondaime, but not him. But oh well. In the end, it's their fault for being too short-sighted.

"Feh... as if anyone would recognize a gaki like you..." he said, making Konohamaru jump from the log they were sitting and clench his fists. "If you want to become Hokage so badly... There's only one way to do it!" Konohamaru's ear perked up a bit. He definitely wanted to hear that. "...Show me the way, kore! What do I have to do to become Hokage?"

Naruto gave him a huge smirk. One that belonged not to a foxy boy, but to a full-fledged shinobi. "You have to beat me in a fight first, -Dattebayo!"

...What? You think that Naruto would let anyone steal his spot? As if!

**Meanwhile, at the Hokage Tower...**

Sarutobi Hiruzen had his gaze fixed on the stone face of his successor, and sadly predecessor as well. Minato was a brilliant man. More determined, capable and competent than he could have ever possibly imagined. He had projects to restore the lost strength of the Academy curriculum, avert the increasing power of the civilian council over shinobi matters, start the medical program that his student Tsunade has been asking for years... The guy was a godsend, a true legend among leaders. He was right there with his sensei Senju Tobirama as far as tightening up the pace and reminding everyone that Konoha is strong because of the union of its people through the Hi no Ishi.*

If only he had lasted 3 or 4 years, Konohagakure wouldn't be in the delicate situation as it has been over the last few years. Yeah, the economy was great. But the system was too corrupt and he was too old to fight it by himself. But he barely had time to think over these matters anymore, as Iruka came by to talk to him about a certain matter. "Sandaime-sama!" the scarred Chuunin said. "Did Naruto come by to register himself?"

"Yes." Hiruzen answered. "I could barely recognize him, though. New clothes and attitude... having the long awaited knowledge of his condition and responsibility towards Konohagakure has certainly made a fantastic impression over him."

"Indeed," responded Iruka. "That and my little motivational speech at Ichiraku's a few days ago. After I left the hospital, I took him there and explained to him about how he should behave now that he is a shinobi. And to make things better, Teuchi-san and Ayame-san told him a few stories about his parents. He swore in front of us that he would honor their legacy and become the best Hokage ever. It was heartwarming, in a way..."

**[Naruto OST: Sadness & Sorrow]**

Hiruzen never took his gaze away from the Yondaime. Almost as if he hoped Minato's stone face to smile at seeing how his son was doing fine now. But he knew better than most. "Naruto's dream..." he said. "Become Hokage... this dream might be much harder to come true than Naruto could ever imagine..." Iruka rose his eyebrows at hearing Sarutobi's words. Before he could ask him what did he mean, Hiruzen beat him to it.

"Iruka... As you probably know, the only one who know the truth about Naruto being a Jinchuuriki are those who fought against the Kyuubi that night and the shinobi from Chuunin rank and above... as well as the adult parcel of the civilians. And I've been very explicit about not revealing it, or even mentioning in public, under capital punishment which I personally carry out."

"The children, Iruka... they are Naruto's salvation. They don't know about his condition, and I make sure of explaining carefully and thoughtfully about Naruto when someone of the younger generation is allowed to know of these things. But I never expected that things would go so wrong for Naruto because of the adults..."

"They see him as if he was the Kyuubi itself. And they carry that fear, anger and hatred so deeply that it ends up being passed on the the younger people without they even thinking about it. It's automatic. The one hope for Naruto to have a normal childhood is wasted because of those who carry the hatred on..."

"Hokage-sama, if I may..." said Iruka. "I'm not sure if it's because I understand things better now, but... did it never cross your mind that... the minute Yondaime-sama turned Naruto into a Jinchuuriki... any attempts of a relatively normal childhood were downright futile from that point on?"

Hiruzen looked at Iruka with a curious glance. True enough, he never thought about it. Maybe the fact that he always treated Naruto like a normal child made him think that everyone else could, and should, do the same. Maybe Danzou was right all those years ago... Naruto's life would have probably been better if he didn't have to worry about being hated if he could be of service to Konoha with the power only a Jinchuuriki would be able to provide... by following the Hi no Ishi, that is. Hiruzen would never let the son of the Yondaime being turned into one of Danzou's mindless drones. Minato would come back from the Shinigami's stomach to kill him – and maybe destroy Konoha while he was at it – if that ever happened.

"I think you are right, Iruka..." he said, turning back to face Minato's stone face. "I never thought about it... You're right. Naruto could never had a normal childhood... By the way... did you know?" he asked, making the Chuunin answer with a simple 'Eh?'. Sarutobi took a deep breath. "Did you know that... when someone hates you and completely refuses to acknowledge your existence... that person's eyes... become disturbingly cold?"

Iruka couldn't answer... he might have looked at Naruto with contempt in the beginning... but he never gave him a look of abhorrence as the one the old Hokage described... He could only wonder who, or rather, how many people gave Naruto that look every day... and how the hell he overcame them...

**[End OST]**

**Back at Naruto and Konohamaru...**

"I found you two, at last!" shouted a voice behind Naruto and Konohamaru. It was Ebisu, who seemed really pissed. But then again, anyone who's been on the hunt for nearly two hours at the pace Ebisu was would be pissed off too. The guy wasn't breaking a sweat, but he did seem pretty anxious.

"_Hn... Damned demon fox..._" he thought, giving Naruto the shuddering glare worthy of the 9th circle of hell given its coldness. Naruto flinched a bit with that look. Even after years of receiving those glares, it was still a pain in the ass to receive them. "_Shinobi glares are something else..._" he thought. "_They mix the glare with their killing intent, and that makes even me shiver!_"

"So... let's go back home, Omago-sama..." said Ebisu. Konohamaru quickly responded. "No way. I'm staying here, training hard to knock down Jiji and become Hokage! Stay out of my way, kore!" Ebisu chuckled. How the hell was hanging out with the demon improve his skills, seriously?

"Please, Omago-sama... You should be aware of what it takes to be a Hokage. It takes years of practice to get the basic skills down. Your grandfather, for instance, knows more than a thousand jutsus, and you can merely wonder how much time it took him to learn and master all of them. I won't say it again, Omago-sama. Let us return home, so I-"

"**Henge**!" Konohamaru shouted, forming the Ram seal. Easily enough, the transformation was perfect. And the woman was REALLY hot. "Take that, kore! **Oiroke no Jutsu**!" Ebisu screamed on agony. But for some Kami forsaken reason, he didn't pass out from nosebleed. Maybe it didn't work...?

"W-w-w-w... WHAT SORT OF RUBBISH IS THIS?!" he yelled, his cheeks bright red from embarrassment, and a whole new lever of anger. "I am a GENTLEMAN, Omago-sama! For all that it's worth, such low-level jutsu would never work against my being!" He quickly approached Konohamaru and grabbed his scarf, dead set on dragging him if at all necessary to keep him away from Naruto.

"What did I tell you before, huh? Keep walking with that scum and you'll only compromise your future! You have to listen to what I say, for I WILL show you how to become Hokage! It's the QUICKEST WAY, do you hear me?!"

**[Naruto OST: The Raising Fighting Spirit]**

Naruto kept listening to that guy long enough. That man was clearly a hypocrite, arrogant snob, who refused to acknowledge both Konohamaru's talent to learn quickly and Naruto's skill as a teacher. This guy... would catch holy hell.

"**KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU**!"

Ebisu and Konohamaru quickly stopped fighting to see Naruto's performance. Easily enough, the Uzumaki was able to produce nearly 40 clones in one go. And it wasn't even the Tajuu version, which meant that it was way too far from grasping the true measure of Naruto's chakra level. Damn, if chakra could be measured as light bulbs, Naruto easily had the energy of one, maybe two suns.

"Wooooow... Incredible, kore!" Konohamaru shouted. He only saw the **Kage Bunshin** being worked on, not actually being cast. So seeing all those _physical_ clones being produced as if it was a normal Bunshin... it was just... wow.

Ebisu simply snorted. "Fool... I'm a Elite Instructor. Mizuki might have been easy for you to handle, but I'm far superior. Prepare yourself!" he said, walking towards the gathering clones.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen was watching Naruto fighting Ebisu through his crystal ball. "_Now then... what will you do, Naruto...?_"

As soon as Ebisu was starting to make his first move, Naruto beat him to it. Both the original and the entire clone brigade performed a **Henge**. Simple enough, right? Except for one thing...

**[Abrupt OST cut - now playing Naruto OST: Sexiness]**

Every single Naruto was now... Naruko. The **Oiroke** girl. And a whole bunch of them. And they all jumped towards Ebisu, grabbing him by every angle available. And they all moaned his name in quite a sensual way. "Ebisu-sama! What would you want us to do?" "Ebisu-sama! You're so handsome and manly..." and quite a few other phrases were spoken by the enormous wave of sexy blonde goddesses that were clinging on him.

Ebisu couldn't hold on much longer. Being the hypocrite that he is, his 'gentleman' attitude gave in space for his true nature within... the nature of a pervert. A closet pervert, but a pervert nonetheless. Being surrounded by all of those females, he did the only thing any decent manly man with testosterone and some fair sense of awareness of his surroundings would do.

Fly towards the sky and land flat on the ground due to massive nosebleed. Seriously, who could imagine that people would bleed so much from such small holes? Cases like this one are to show people that they should never underestimate the human anatomy. It truly is a surprising one...

Naruto dispelled all the **Kage Bunshins** and grinned at seeing Ebisu knocked out cold. "How was that, huh? I call it **Harem no Jutsu**, -Dattebayo!" he said. Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was watching everything from that crystal ball of his, could only sigh. "_He mixed the __**Kage Bunshin**__ and the __**Oiroke no Jutsu**__ to create this... It seems that Naruto still has his devilishly prankster nature within..._" he thought. "_To create yet another stupid technique like that, you can count on that boy... although I do admit that I would fall easily for it..._"

**[End OST]**

"*groan* I can't even beat my instructor, how the heck am I supposed to beat Jiji?" asked Konohamaru, upset with the fact that his **Oiroke no Jutsu** was not even close to Naruto's. "Just what am I doing wrong?! How in the world will I have the recognition I so crave for? I'm sick of being Omago-sama, kore!"

"Hey, hey..." said Naruto, trying to calm down the young boy. "Wake up and smell the coffee for a moment. You're talking about THE title of Hokage. Only the strongest, wisest and most capable shinobi in the village should carry that title, and for a damn good reason."

"You know... I face many hardships during my short life. And the worst of all? Being an orphan gave me a reduced number of people to count on, so I had to work my ass off and go through hell and back to get ONE person to acknowledge me. So you can only wonder how hard you're gonna have to work your way if you hope to become Hokage and drop off the whole Omago-sama thingy. So let me tell you one thing I learned a while ago. It's the best piece of advice I can give you..."

**[Naruto OST: Morning]**

The wind started to blow hard. That cool afternoon scenery with the main hero having his hair blown by the nice wind was taking place, and Naruto wanted to enjoy every single second of it. He turned around to face Konohamaru and gave him his foxy-grin with his eyes closed.

"The path to become Hokage... has no shortcuts at all."

Konohamaru stood there, slowly absorbing the piece of advice given by the blonde Jinchuuriki that spent the whole afternoon with him. He remembered the words he said not too long ago.

"_If you want to become Hokage so badly... you have to beat me in a fight first, -Dattebayo!_" Those words... he wasn't kidding. Naruto could probably go as far as killing people to make his dream come true. Such is a shinobi's life. Konohamaru made his decision.

"Feh... who are you to give me advices like Jiji does, kore?" he said, turning his back on Naruto, whose face was deadpan. "You know what? I've had it, kore! You're no longer oyabun. From now on..." Konohamaru turned around again to face the blonde.

"...we're rivals."

Both young boys smiled at each other. Man rule number 23, 2nd paragraph: 'rival' means 'bro'. Naruto had to admit: he liked Konohamaru's attitude. He reckoned that he earned his respect today. The boy would grow up to become a strong shinobi in the future, that was certain. Well, it was time to close off the day.

"Well, sorry to say this, but I'm done for today. Next Monday I'm starting my career as a shinobi of Konoha. And it might take quite a while for us to fight for the title of Hokage, considering that we're both way too young for that... I can promise you one thing, though..."

"I'm looking forward to when that day comes... Konohamaru."

The young Sarutobi simply stood there, shocked by what he just heard. Someone finally called him by his name. His true name. It was the first sign of honest acknowledgment and recognition he received in his short life. His smile and the tiny bits of water filling his eyes couldn't even begin to describe how happy he truly was right now as he saluted Naruto, who was walking away waving 'so long' to him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the old Sandaime, looked through everything. He was happy to see his grandson starting to mature thanks to Naruto's nice and strong words. The boy was truly Minato's son. A promising shinobi. And Konoha's savior, from both the Kyuubi, and from the village itself.

"_Naruto..._" he thought, as the image of the crystal ball faded away. "_Your adventures as a shinobi are just at the very beginning... I'm looking forward to what the future will bring forth to you..._" a smile ran across the old man's face, as he wished for Naruto the very best life could give him. Just like the book written by his old student Jiraiya. He hoped Naruto would be even braver and stronger than the one from the story.

The gutsiest of all tales... is finally about to begin.

**[End OST]**

**A/N: Whew, I'm done. Nearly 10k words for a second chapter? Man, I sure do like to write. Where did all that inspiration come from, seriously?**

**Yeah, this story is just a new approach to canon, rather than an entirely original story. Or so it's what I am making you readers think... Next chapter has something I know none of you would ever guess what it could possibly be. But hey, that's the nice thing about fanfics, right?**

**Regarding the use of OST's, as some jackass shouted out on the reviews, that's entirely up to you guys to play the songs while you read. If you don't want to, don't ever put a song on. What I do in my story is what I've come up across writing that makes me feel comfortable while writing, and then reading a story. Getting to an emotional spot, and some emotional music playing makes my imagination go wild. The same with battle scenes, revelation scenes, character introduction... anything works for me, thanks to my imagination. If you're not so lucky... well, I'm not forcing you to actually do anything, so simply go on with your life, I won't harbor any hard feelings, I promise!**

**And right now, I can honestly say that I will go OoC. The Chuunin Shiken, for starters, will not be in Konoha, as I first planned. I'm leaving that one to The Orange Hokage, because it actually fits in a bit better. By the way, October 10 is Naruto's birthday, and I'm having ANOTHER new story published on this day. It's the Chibi-Sensei story I was talking about a while ago. I already have the plot of the first chapter down, and I'm sure you guys are gonna find it rather... unique, despite some canon here and there. Oh, what the hell, once I get the second chapter down, you guys are gonna shout out how truly awesome I am, and how I will become the next Kenchi618!**

**...Okay, maybe not so much... but that won't stop me from trying to become as great and famous as he is! Next chapter, Naruto starts his Genin career... or does he? It all depends on his 'teammates'... Until next time, then. See ya!**


	3. New Rivals, As Well As New Friends

**A/N: Hello everyone! SamHetfield back for another great chapter of TGoAT. First of all, sorry for the delay on The Orange Hokage. I've had the worst case of writer's block ever.**

… …**Okay, maybe not the worst. I mean... ****Team 8 was on hiatus for nearly 20 months, right?**

**But worry not, I have just found a solution for it last Sunday, and I finally got what it takes to write it. Chibi-Sensei is also on a stalemate because I had exams these last few weeks and couldn't write shit... I won't even get started on The Trial of Time for that matter... Many apologies for the lack of updates...**

**Okay, then... Review answer time!**

**dbtiger63: Sorry for not putting much effort into this part. But it's pretty hard to deny that Hiruzen's far too old and caring for his own good. No wonder why Danzou took care of the dirty stuff. And no, I absolutely DESPISE canon's Team 7. I'll make them work as a proper unit, and Kakashi will act like a surrogate aniki/father to the son of the one who performed this role to him long ago. It's only fair.**

**God-ShadowEx100: Thanks for the laughs, Angry FanFiction Nerd. And just to make sure, I reported your review as well. Now fuck off and let me write my story!**

* * *

**Just to remind you guys, I don't own Naruto. If I did, the Naruto/Hinata pairing on NS: UNS 3 – Full Burst would be far more than just 'Secret Lovers'. Who came up with that shit, anyway? Damn you, Kishimoto-sensei, for not pairing them just yet! By the way, I bought the game last week on Steam. It's beautiful in every sense of the word. Play it, you guys are gonna love it.**

**On another note, I don't exactly own the game either. I just bought a digital copy, OK? Namco Bandai & Ciberconnect2 are the true owners of the game. Will I ever truly OWN anything in my life...? *sigh* let's go on with the story, shall we...?**

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato, Naruto's new house – March 3, 7:45 AM**

The light of a new day was shining brightly on Uzumaki Naruto's face, making him narrow his eyes a bit as he opened them. He rose from the bed, yawning and stretching himself. Today was THE day. He would go to the Academy for the final gathering among the graduates and he would be part of a Genin cell. He knew how the system worked. After failing the exam three times and looking at those who graduated, he was aware that some people were part of a 3-man cell. Once in a while he saw those teams as he walked (or skipped class) in Konoha. Putting two and two together, he got the answer.

As he was taking a shower, he wondered who he would end up being paired with. There were a ton of people with different sets of skills in his class in particular, specially the clan heirs. "_Let's see..._" he thought. "_It'd be nice to be paired up with people I get along, and vice-verse... So far, I can think of four people: Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji and Shino... Sakura-chan would be nice too, and as long as Sasuke-teme is not on the equation I should be okay._" He took a while to think about what he knew on everyone he could imagine being paired up (or not).

Uchiha Sasuke. Aka 'The Last Loyal Uchiha'. Aka 'Number One Rookie'. Aka 'Ten-foot pole stuck up in his overrated ass'. Talented in all overall aspects, with a well-rounded set on ninjutsu (courtesy of having Uchiha bloodline, despite not having awakened the **Sharingan** yet), taijutsu and speed. Having a raven-colored hair with the shape of a chicken's butt and a stuck-up brooding cool-ish emo attitude, as well as his noble status, made him the most wanted preteen of his generation by the female populace. And he didn't give a rat's ass about them, or ANYTHING else, as a matter of fact.

To sum it all up, he was the number one jackass in Konoha, on Naruto's point of view. He'd rather clean the Hokage Monument for the rest of his life than being stuck with him on a team. Well, off the next person on Naruto's list, then...

Inuzuka Kiba. Member of the Inuzuka clan, specialized in partnership with ninken (dog-nin). Akamaru was a nice dog. Yeah, he was small, but hey. Small packages have the best gifts, right? A nice tracker, and his skills in taijutsu were respectable. As long as Naruto remembered, the guy was good. They had a relatively healthy rivalry. Better than the one with Sasuke, as far as he knew. The only concern is that Kiba had a stupid alpha-dog belief, so they fought a lot when it came to being leaders of operations and pranks. But hey, they would be under a Jounin's command now, so Kiba had a better chance at being a nice partner if it came to that.

Next was Nara Shikamaru. The laziest sloth to ever walk on this planet. And the smartest too. For a moment Naruto wondered how the hell Shikamaru managed to get higher grades than him. But oh well, he didn't fret over it. He had to admit that the Nara was REALLY clever. Shikamaru's father was the Jounin Commander, and a somewhat reliable source of advice for the old Sarutobi due to his unnatural high IQ. The blond-haired Jinchuuriki remembered the good times he had playing and skipping class with Shikamaru and the rest of the gang. He really was the smart guy of the group. If only he didn't slack off too much, he would be a fearsome shinobi.

But hey, like Shikamaru would say, 'It's too troublesome to get worked up about life. No one returns alive to tell the story anyway...' Overall, Shikamaru was one one of the guys. And he would be the smart link of the team, if they ever got paired up.

Akimichi Chouji was also one of the guys. Shikamaru's best friend, and a jolly, gentle soul... well, as long as no one called him fat. Otherwise, you'd best prepare yourself to meet you doom, because like all Akimichis, he packed a really heavy punch. If only he was a bit more of a clever guy... but that what Shikamaru was for anyway, that's why they always hanged out together, eating potato chips and watching clouds. Oh, those were the days. Even Naruto joined them a few times and felt himself more relaxed and alive than he ever did in his life. Maybe that's why Shikamaru was as smart as he was a carefree...

But putting those thoughts aside, yeah, Chouji was cool too. At this moment, Naruto already picked what he would wear today and headed to the kitchen to prepare his breakfast. More on the clothes later, by the way... Now, back with the guys he was cool with...

Another cool dude was Aburame Shino... Way too cool and quiet, as a matter of fact. The only thing Naruto ever knew about the guy was that he used insects as part of his clan's techniques. And that his logic and apparent lack of emotions made people avoid him because they thought that he was weird.

That and the bugs too, but Naruto didn't mind them.

In a way, he thought that Shino could somehow relate to him. Having a different entity inside you felt kinda off for starters, so maybe the Aburame would most likely have some sort of empathy and they would make it work on the team assignments. So far, so good.

Right now, Naruto finished preparing his breakfast. A bowl of ramen (a real bowl, not instant noodles), with hot shiruko* as dessert. One of the great things about **Kage Bunshin** was definitely the amount of things you could learn with it. With time, practice and experience, you could do ANYTHING.

The first thing Naruto did after reading most of the basic scrolls of his family's library (many times over, mind you – just to make sure he memorized it all) was heading to the library and summoning an army of clones – all of them properly disguised with **Henge**, of course – to learn whatever he could possibly learn.

Cooking, gardening, knitting and sewing, housekeeping and decorating... just to name a few.

Kami praise the **Kage Bunshin** for its infinite potential for learning. Yeah, the mental strain was awful and it forced you to sleep over 10 hours every night, but at least Naruto had thousands of new ways to make his life _a bit_ better. And being the sly fox he and his Bijuu within always were, he got his feet to work pretty damn fast. In two weeks he managed to fulfill some of his most basic needs for the next 20 years or so.

Buy some fabrics here and there, get some clones to work – as well as a few to crowd control them, because otherwise they might do nasty shit on their own – and voilá. You got yourself a whole new wardrobe. Having a bit of fashion sense knocked into while reading those books also helped. Orange? A bit here and there. He'd keep the orange because he was the son of red and yellow. But not the way he did before, with that jumpsuit. That time was well over, recognition would come in its due time.

Getting a few veggies, plants and flowers to start your own private garden and crop was also one of the many things on the must-do list. He mostly stopped having troubles with buying proper goods and food. He learned that having a hitaiate to show off was awesome, because people would hardly oppose a shinobi, unless they wanted to answer to the Hokage for direct insubordination. Naruto had now a few more and better choices in stores to buy the things he wanted and needed now. And asking for Ichiraku for a recipe here and there didn't end up with Teuchi threatening to forbid him from coming there ever again. He knew his ramen would still be the best on the area.

Thank Kami for friendship. And good ramen.

But let's go back to 'real life', because Naruto's quite hungry by now.

He sat down on the dining table and glanced at the picture on it. It was one of the only things he actually changed once he moved in. He picked the picture of his parents on Kushina's bed table and brought it to the dining table, so they could always be there whenever he got home or had a meal. And so far, the only people whom he shared the blood seal of the front gate over the last 2 weeks were Iruka and Hiruzen.

And they knew the picture was there too, so they wouldn't bring ANYONE there unless they knew about the boy's secrets beforehand.

Speaking of Naruto, as he said 'Itadakimasu'* and started eating his breakfast, he recollected his thoughts about those who would probably be part of his team. Since he was done thinking about the boys, he would think about the girls now. Well, at least the only two that came to his mind right now...

The first was his crush, Haruno Sakura. Although he had to admit that she was far too infatuated with Sasuke to even pay attention to anything else. But she still managed to be top kunoichi even being born a civilian, so she did have something special and Naruto noticed that. Although she could use a healthier approach on her eating habits. Shinobi do _not_ diet. It's bad for their constitution, they become weak and they die early. But to talk her to do this would be the equivalent of committing suicide.

Actually, trying to talk to her at all resulted in violent reactions from her, so he'd steer clear, or at least keep his mouth shut. Although he still liked her a bit. Not as much as he did two weeks ago, but still...

The second girl was a bit more interesting. Yamanaka Ino, Sakura's ex-best-friend and Sasuke's number two fangirl (number one being Sakura-chan, of course). Noisy and bossy, she seemed to have a stiff relationship of sorts with Chouji and Shikamaru. Something about their fathers having some awesome combination... She was, as much as Naruto would never admit in front of Sakura, quite beautiful. She had no shame in showing off her beauty, and she seemed to be cheerful as long as you let her boss around. But oh well, she still wasn't exactly the kind of girl Naruto would like to have as a teammate.

Specially considering that she was the one who started the 'diet feud' amongst the fangirls of the class, so she was probably the weakest of the group, despite her clan's jutsus that granted her good grades.

There was one more girl, though... But Naruto couldn't exactly figure out who it was. He was about to think over a bit more when he saw the clock on the kitchen wall. 8:45. He had 15 minutes to get in the Academy to join the team gathering. He quickly rushed to his bedroom, picked Kushina's hitaiate and headed to a mirror in the restroom. He washed and messed a bit with his hair, making the flocks drop a bit on his sides before he put the hitaiate on.

Wow.

He looked a lot like his father now. And ditching the orange jumpsuit for the sake of a better wardrobe also made quite a difference. He had the look of a true young shinobi. And a pretty damn handsome one to boot.

"_Maybe Sakura-chan or some other girl might like my new looks..._" he thought. "_It's not like I want a fangirl club, though. And even if I do, at least I won't be a dick like Sasuke-teme... Shit, 10 minutes! I gotta hurry now!_" He left the restroom and made his way to the exit hall. He shouted a quick 'Ittekimasu'* as he closed the door behind him, and then the front gate.

Yeah, he shouted to motionless photographs, but hey. They were his parents, he finally had something from them, and he would sure as hell take advantage of that.

Meanwhile, at the commercial district, a pink-haired girl was walking cheerfully towards the Academy. She wore a red qipao with short sleeves and a white circle drawn at the back and the sides, and greenish shorts. Her hair was tied up in a split pattern thank to her hitaiate, showing off her forehead. Damn, that thing was big. No wonder why Yamanaka Ino and a few others called her 'Dekoriin'*. She was Haruno Sakura, the top kunoichi of the Academy, and she had one thought in her mind:

"_The Academy is over. I'm finally a full-fledged kunoichi. And Sasuke-kun WILL notice me! Anyone who tries to mess with my objectives will meet doom at my hands, as well as his or her supporters. __**Shannarou!**__*_"

* * *

Right now, in three different places, an Uchiha, a Hyuuga and an Uzumaki had a strange urge to sneeze.

* * *

As Sakura walked down the district, she heard a familiar voice shouting 'Ittekimasu'. She saw someone who, not too long ago, was her best friend. Yamanaka Ino, wearing her purple two-piece attire that clearly showed her belly button, as well as her advantageous assets (well, for a 12 year old girl, anyway). Although she could use some extra meat. Seriously, her diet was even more rigorous than the one Sakura was through.

Not that no one would point that out to them. Only mindless fangirls like them cared about these things, to be honest.

As soon as Ino noticed Sakura's presence, they exchanged glares (and quite a few lightning sparks). "Oh... hi there, Sakura. Ohayo.*" Ino said, with a smirk across her face. "Ohayo... Ino." the pink-haired girl answered, with the same smirk. They started walking side to side, still trading a few glares. After a few more minutes, Ino was the first to raise her voice to speak.

"Who could possibly imagine... Dekoriin-chan amongst the graduates... *giggle*" Of course, this line earned a cold glare from Sakura.

"Shut up." she answered. "The Academy time is water over the bridge now. We're shinobi of Konoha, and I'll not lose to you ever again from now on."

Suddenly, Sakura quickened her pace. Ino did the same. Then Sakura did it again. Ino followed. Before you noticed, they were running and tackling each other as they ran towards the Academy.

Because that's what rivals do.

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**Naruto: The Gutsiest Of All Tales**

**Chapter 3: New Rivals, As Well As New Friends**

**Shinobi Academy, Room 701 – March 3, 8:57 AM**

**[Naruto OST: Daily Life]**

"GOAL!/GOAL!" was shouted at the same time by Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. They entered the room at the exact same time, and they were visibly tired for two newly-graduate Genin. Because that's what happens when you don't eat properly for a shinobi. Obviously.

"Well..." said Ino, panting. "Looks like... *pant pant* I win this time... Dekoriin-chan." Sakura snorted at hearing that. "As... if... *pant* I guess you missed the fact... that I was an inch ahead, Ino-buta!" she said.

Ino responded back. "An inch ahead...? With that forehead of yours, maybe. But I still got ahead!" While the two fangirls were bickering, one pineapple-haired sleepyhead woke up with all that noise.

"Hmm...? *yawn* Troublesome... it's begun already..." said an annoyed Nara Shikamaru. "I hate those two... Does anyone have a duct tape to shut them up?"

"Sorry, no duct tape here." said a cheerful Akimichi Chouji, eating a bag of potato chips. "But I do have this bag of potato chips. Care for some?" he asked, as the Nara picked a few. "And you, Kiba? Care for some?" said Inuzuka boy smelled the potato chips handed over to him. He picked them and ate half of it, while he gave the other half to Akamaru, who was resting on top of his head. The small ninken yipped and cheerfully ate it.

Barbecue flavor.

Yummy.

"Thank for that, man." said Kiba. "But... why the potato chip? I ain't hungry, I just accepted because it's rare for you to share food, so there's gotta be a reason..."

"It makes a lot of noise when you crunch it." answered Chouji, wolfing down a few more chips. "It's always nice to distract yourself with more pleasurable sounds rather than two rabid fangirls – even if one of them IS a long-time friend of yours."

"Ha ha ha... Dude... you're a Kami damn genius!"

"Nope. Shikamaru is the genius here. He's the one who suggested that, saying that it was too troublesome to keep listening to Ino shouting all the time..."

"Oh... Okay. Feh... Only Shikamaru to think of something like that... Right, Akamaru? *yip yip*"

"What about you, Shino?" asked Chouji. "You up for some chips too?"

"That won't be necessary, Chouji." the Aburame answered. "I don't necessarily mind the unpleasant sound of Ino-san and Sakura-san. And even if I did mind, I could merely order my kikaichuu to shut down my hearing momentarily."

Kiba grimaced at the thought of having bugs in his ears. "Dude... that's really gross, you know? What do you think, Akamaru? *whim*" The Aburame boy simply narrowed his eyebrows before returning to his cool and quiet position, adjusting his glasses while he was at it.

**[End OST]**

Shino, who was sitting alongside Kiba, looked over to the desk behind him. His colleague and friend Hyuuga Hinata seemed pretty depressed over the last few days, and today was no exception. As a matter of fact, she looked far worse than usual today. But it was no surprise to him and his logic assumptions. Nor it was to anyone who knew her at least a bit.

The cause of her depression had a name and a surname – two, actually... Not that anyone knew about that, of course – Uzumaki Naruto.

It was no secret to anyone in the Academy that Hinata had the biggest crush on Naruto. And just to be clear, it was not a silly fangirl crush like the other girls have for Sasuke, nor it was the misplaced attention-seeking crush Naruto had for Sakura. Far from it. It was a REAL crush. The kind of crush that makes her blush and stutter whenever she thought, talked or heard something about the Uzumaki boy. The kind of crush that made Hinata follow him around to try and get to know him in her own timid way.

The kind of crush that just might become true love someday, if neither parties blow it up.

Hyuuga Hinata. Heiress of the Hyuuga clan, one of the four noble shinobi clans of Hi no Kuni and currently the strongest in Konoha, since the Senjus, Uchihas and Uzumakis are no more. A clan where strength was the most valued asset. Dignity and honor were driven by strength. If you're driven by your emotions, that makes you weak and worthless.

And that's precisely what bothered Hinata so much in her family. Her shy and kind manners labeled her as a failure. She was weak, and one day she would be thrown away from the Main House and serve them as part of the Branch House she so loved and cared about. Those thought alone depressed her to no end. But that is a discussion more fit later down in the road.

Because there was something that always seemed to make her day brighter. Or rather, someone.

Uzumaki Naruto.

He had it way worse than she ever did. Yeah, her family is horrible to her and everything, but for the blond-haired whiskered boy it was the entirety of Konoha against him. As far as anyone was concerned, he was just orphan scum. A few people here and there whispered 'demon brat' or 'monster' whenever they saw him. The young noble girl could never understand just what was so demonic about that kid.

Yeah, she saw his chakra with the **Byakugan** once. It was monstrous for sure. An Academy kid having more chakra than the Hokage himself? That was definitely curious. The tiny red sparks of chakra coming out of his stomach region were also quite curious. Who the hell has two kinds of chakra within, seriously? But putting these thoughts aside... seeing that much chakra was... beautiful.

It looked like he was a giant beacon of light in the middle of an ocean of darkness. His smile and his never-give-up attitude were also admirable. But what REALLY got Hinata's attention... were his eyes.

Those deep, cerulean-blue eyes. Anyone could get lost looking at them for a period of time. Not only because they were beautiful, but also... because they were the most mysterious thing that Hinata's ever seen in her not so long life.

As a shinobi, one must be trained to read a person's true intentions and emotions by looking them in the eyes. Yamanakas took that lesson seriously, because they could either work on therapy, interrogation and torture, mind-reading... eyes were important. Naras would study them to know how much strategically advanced the enemy was. Uchihas had the **Sharingan**, so studying a person's entire being was part of their curriculum. But the Hyuugas had a particular reason to study a person's eyes.

Eyes don't lie. Ever.

As the X-Ray of the shinobi world, the **Byakugan** could seriously tell if a person was lying to them, or if one small hint of killing intent could be detected. Hinata loved seeing people in the eye. As part of her shy, kind nature, she could know if someone was hurt, so she could try and comfort that person. And what she saw in Naruto's eyes... it crushed her deeply.

Pain. Unmeasurable, unimaginable, indescribable pain, sadness and angst.

And yet he kept that smile going. And he never stopped shouting to whoever was in hearing-range 'I'm gonna become Hokage, -Dattebayo!'. How did he manage that? How did he end up being swallowed by so much pain? And how could he possibly be able to mask it all? How could he keep working so hard to get people to acknowledge him? What drove him so far?

He was the deepest enigma Hinata's ever faced in her life... and she swore to herself she would solve it.

But she would have to wait a little more to understand that puzzle. First, because Iruka's finally here. Second, because Naruto failed the exams, so it's not like he's showing up... Besides, a voice took her out of her trance. It was Aburame Shino, someone she was acquainted with for a while at the Academy.

Because you know... weirdos unite!

"Don't fret yourself over worrisome matters, Hinata. Keep focus on what's ahead. Why? Because you are a Genin now, and being depressed like that will bring you troubles later. Naruto wouldn't want that to happen to you, I'm positive about that."

Hearing Shino mention Naruto made Hinata blush a deep red. She was sure her crush was known to herself and herself only. Damned Aburames and their non-stop working logic, they found out about her 'secret'.

Oh, well. No crying over spilled milk now. Besides, he was trying to cheer her up, so he was a nice person on her book.

"A-a-arigatou... Shino-kun." she said, her voice low as usual. Iruka used his infamous **Dai Kitou no Jutsu*** to calm down the rabid fangirl army surrounding Sasuke. Something about Ino and Sakura fighting to who'd sit on his side for getting there first, seeing that many other girls had gotten there before those two.

Of course no one noticed that Sasuke's desk had a free spot on both sides. Well, good thing no one noticed so far, he liked being alone.

**[Naruto OST: Afternoon In Konoha]**

Iruka took a quick glance at the room. Naruto wasn't here yet. He was sure that Naruto wouldn't miss this day for the world, so something trivial like a broken alarm must have gotten in the way. Thinking a bit more, he was now feeling happy for having the opportunity to be his sensei for all those years.

Not because he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, but because he was a true shinobi, far above his peers, despite the awful grades.

"Okay, now..." he said. "I'm proud to see all of you standing here, as proper Genin of Konohagakure no Sato. You are expected to carry out your assignments and serve Hokage-sama and the village to prosperity. All of you who are here today are officially adults now. I'm proud of every single one of you who graduated."

"As Genin, you'll be assigned in a three-man cell, led by a Jounin official, who will teach you and command you to perform your tasks. And these teams have been picked by Hokage-sama and the Jounin themselves. It was made like that so teams would be properly balanced, so I hope no one has any complaints."

Everyone's ears perked up at hearing this particular statement. And the thoughts were as follows:

Sasuke: "_Tsc... three-man cells? That will only drag me down..._"

Ino/Sakura/every-other-girl: "_I HAVE TO BE ON SASUKE-KUN'S TEAM!_"

Shikamaru: "_Three-man cells? Jounin sensei to boss us around? What a drag..._"

Chouji: "_Teams of three? Jounin sensei? Hmmmm... Dammit. I'm hungry again..._"

Kiba: "_I'm leading the team, no matter who I get paired up with. Feh... too bad Naruto isn't here, though... I would love to see the look in his face right now._"

Shino: "_Hmmm... I'm glad I took my time to analyze and assert everyone's individual assets. No matter who I get to have as a teammate, I'll see to it that the team's dynamic stays as sharp and precise as possible..._"

Hinata: "_*sigh* If only Naruto-kun was here... I would have a chance to be on his team and... Oh Kami, that would mean I'd get to be with him more often! *blush* Oh well... he's not here... *long sigh*_"

"Now, then... Team One, led by-"

**[End OST]**

Before Iruka could say anything further, the door slid open abruptly. Everyone turned around to see who was the one who did that. The sight was curious, to say the least.

A blond-haired boy, his eyes closed, his face facing the ground, panting heavily. His left hand was covering his cheek. Probably he was cleaning the sweat on it. If the hand wasn't there everyone would recognize his whiskers and wonder just what the heck Naruto was doing here. The polished hitaiate on his forehead flashed brightly for everyone to see. But there were two things that drew everyone's attention.

**[Naruto OST: Sexiness]**

First was his blond spiky hair. The two flocks on the sides made him look A LOT like the late Yondaime. He probably had right now the prettiest hair in Konohagakure. And the fact that he had just shook his head a bit to clean the sweat on his face, the hair was flapping around enough to make most girls in the room feel the blood rising to their cheeks.

Sasuke noticed that. His fangirl detection senses tingled differently than before. "_Whoever this guy is..._" he thought. "_He had just made me 'lose' 9 fangirls. I gotta thank him for that later..._"

Kiba also noticed the smell in the air. "_Damn, the pheromones in this room had gone wild!_" he thought. "_I'm using whatever shampoo this guy uses from now on. If the chicks got magnetized by him just because of that, he's doing something right._"

The second aspect that got the classroom's attention were the clothes he was wearing. A set of black shinobi pants, with blue fingerless sandals was okay. But the real shocking aspect was definitely the white shirt with the red Uzumaki swirl on the front, mixed with a long red cloak.

Seriously, that cloak just screamed AWESOME and BADASS. It was bright red, with a black/orange mix of flames on the back and the sleeves. On the back, a big white Uzumaki insignia for everyone to see. Not that anyone knew that this was the true Uzumaki symbol, anyway, but it was there.

Basically, the guy had just become some sort of prince. Not that he wasn't before that, but the clothes helped out this time. They also showed up how well-toned Naruto's body was.

...What? He trained every single day of his life, and the last two weeks were no exception. And with all those **Kage Bunshins** and a few new seals here and there, you got yourself an Uzumaki with a nice six-pack! Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wives!

"_Who is he...?_" Ino thought, her cheeks bright red. "_Not even Sasuke-kun is that handsome..._"

Sakura's thought was also focused on the new kid on the block. "_I don't remember seeing this guy before... he's quite cute actually... __**Shannarou! Sasuke-kun is prettier! Don't lose focus here!**_"

Hinata was blushing a deep red worthy of Kushina's former 'Tomato' nickname. "_Stop blushing, for Kami's sake! You like Naruto-kun! But... he does look a bit like him. Could he be...?_"

Iruka chuckled at seeing everyone's reaction. They didn't even notice that the 'new kid' was Naruto all along. "_Time to wake them up, I suppose..._" he thought. "Oi, took you long enough! I was about to assign the first team! What would happen if you weren't here in time, huh?"

The blond-haired kid was quick to finish catching up with his breath. He rose his head, opened his blue eyes and his mouth to answer his sensei: "Oh... Sorry about that, Iruka-sensei. I promise that won't happen again, -Dattebayo!"

"You only say that because it's your last day in the Academy... but oh well. Good to see you finally made it... Naruto."

**[End OST]**

At this point, the voice, the blue eyes, the whiskers and Iruka brought everyone back to reality. Sakura was the first to shout. "NARUTO!?" She couldn't believe. Of all people who could actually compete with Sasuke on the 'beauty' department, it had to be this guy? The loser, dead last, annoying piece of dog shit that always used to pester on her for a date? No way. It was impossible!

Sasuke had both eyebrows up as well. "_The usura-tonkachi_*?_ Is that really him?_" he thought. "_He's different alright... and it's not just the clothes... his aura changed a lot. What are you hiding, dobe*...?_"

Hinata's blush just got brighter. "_It really was Naruto-kun... He's so much more handsome! *inner squeal* I knew he was good-looking, even with all of that orange, but... Wow. Simply wow!_"

Everyone else just couldn't believe that it was him all along. Kiba was the second person to shout out. "Wait a minute. Iruka-sensei, what is he doing here? Didn't he fail the Genin Shiken?" Before Iruka could answer, though, Naruto beat him to it, adjusting his hitaiate. "See the hitaiate on my forehead, Kiba? That's my ticket to this gathering! I'm a proper shinobi now, -Dattebayo!"

"Right you are, Naruto." said Iruka. "But now that you finally got here, I can now assign the teams. Please, take a seat anywhere you'd like." Naruto quickly nodded, looking at the seats available. There were two free spots on Sasuke's table, a free seat alongside Sakura... He was about to take a seat alongside Shikamaru when he saw an empty seat on another desk, in which sat another girl.

The third girl Naruto couldn't remember this morning.

"_I totally forgot about her..._" he thought. "_Well, it's not like I ever talked to her, anyway... Might as well get to know her a little. If we get paired up, that might help..._" And so, he went to sit on the girl's right side.

**[Naruto OST: Kakashi's Theme – put on repeat mode]**

Hyuuga Hinata.

She was some sort of mystery for the blond-haired Jinchuuriki. They never spoke to each other during class. Mostly his fault, really. He always tried to get Sakura's attention, so he never paid any mind to other girls. He noticed one thing, though: she always seemed nervous whenever he got close to her. Maybe it was part of her shy nature. She did seem like a shy and kind girl, alright. Which was the exact opposite of the other Hyuugas he knew so far.

Pale-eyed freaks...

As far as he knew about the Hyuugas – rather, what he studied during these past two weeks – her taijutsu was supposed to be crazy strong. Damaging the inner chakra coils and the internal organs? That was some serious shit. And the **Byakugan** was a nice tracking and investigation tool. That worked too. So far, Naruto liked the idea of being paired up with her. She was a fighter and a tracker. Oh, and she could dispel Genjutsu too, that always helped for a guy like him.

But her personality, despite being shy, and a bit of a lack of self-esteem, was what got Naruto's curiosity right now. She looked to be quite nervous around him, but not annoyed like Sakura or Ino. She was always a kind, gentle girl. He was just too dumb not to pay attention earlier. He might have gotten along with her if he didn't waste his time rivaling with Sasuke and pestering with Sakura for a date.

And so he would fix that. Right now.

"Ohayo, Hinata." he said, getting her attention and an 'eep' as well. "A-ano... O...Ohayo... N-Naruto-kun..." she answered, really nervous and not knowing what to do. Seriously, she never talked with the guy. How the hell would she pull that off now? The best thing she could hope to ask right now was...

"A-ano... How d-did you manage... to graduate?" she asked. That was the first thing in her mind (as everyone else's, really...) She saw him hanging on that lonely swing, depressed as hell. He did fail, she remembers that day quite well. It was almost as if SHE had failed, such was her sadness.

"Oh..." he said, sly grin on his face and looking at her face. "Now that... is a secret I'm not willing to share... not yet, anyway. One day I might tell you, but not right now." Hinata quickly retracted herself a bit. She was invading his privacy in the first 20 seconds of conversation with him! What kind of girl does that?

"Oh.. I-I understand... G...Gomen, Naruto-kun... I didn't mean to-"

"Nah, no biggie." he quickly cut her off. She stiffened a bit, worried that her apology request annoyed him in some way. He quickly noticed that. "Hey, hey. It's alright, really. I mean it, -Dattebayo!" she looked at him a bit too nervously from his point of view, though, so he tried another approach on this one.

"Sheesh, Hinata... you look like you're about to collapse right there. Calm down, breath slowly. I'm not being insensitive or anything like that, right? Look, if I'm bothering you, you can just-"

"NO!" she said a bit too loud, enough to draw the attention of half the classroom, and a silence request from Iruka.

Strangely enough, the Chuunin had a warm smile on his face.

"I-I-I mean... no, you're not bothering... a-at all, really..." she said, a heavy blush on her face after that stunt. "_He probably think I'm a weirdo now..._" she thought.

Naruto was quite worried about breaking the poor girl. Seriously, where did that low self-esteem came from? She's from a noble family, she's got a nice bloodline, she is supposed to be talented and strong... And yet, she seemed scared about something...

Could it be the Kyuubi? She could see a person's chakra, so she might have seen something scary coming out of his chakra coils and it scared her. Damn it, he might have to explain that to her earlier than he thought... If there was one thing he was scared about was people from his generation knowing about the Kyuubi. He was scared of losing the trust and friendship of the only people who seemed to care at least a bit about him.

Before he could try to chill her out, though, Iruka's voice seemed a bit louder. "Team Seven, led by Hatake Kakashi... Uzumaki Naruto!" The Jinchuuriki was quick enough to answer with a 'Hai!' "_Oh good jolly!_" he thought. "_Tou-chan's student is my sensei. I wonder if Hokage-jiji planned all of this... he probably did._"

"Haruno Sakura!"

Naruto's eyebrows rose. Well, Sakura was on his team, it seems. And she looked annoyed. But then again, anyone who's been bothered by the ass-clown of Konoha for the last few years would be like that. Now, who would be the last teammate...? Anyone but the Uchiha-teme, anyone but the Uchiha-teme, anyone but the...

"And Uchiha Sasuke!"

Well... shit.

"_Hate you too, Kami..._" Naruto thought. Sakura rose from her chair in joy. "**Shannarou!**" The Uchiha didn't move an inch. Still brooding about nothing in particular.

"Damn it... anyone but that stupid Sasuke would be nice..." he muttered. Hinata wanted to comfort him, but she was also down in the blues for not being on Naruto's team. She was about to say something when Iruka's voice rang out loud: "Team Eight led by Yuuhi Kurenai... Hyuuga Hinata!"

"Oh, u-um... Hai!" she answered, a bit startled by the attention given. She didn't like getting the attention for herself. Iruka's voice rang loudly. "Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino!" both boys answered simply enough... "Now, Team Nine..."

Meanwhile, Yamanaka Ino, who sat alongside Sakura, was fuming in anger. "How does Dekoriin-chan get to be on Sasuke-kun's team!?" she said. The pink-haired kunoichi simply gave her a 'v' for victory hand sign. "_**True love wins, Ino-buta! Shannarou!**_" her inner self screamed.

Right now, Sakura seemed to be in Wonderland. Any external voices were completely shut off. Which might explain her lack of reactions coming from the conversation between Shikamaru and Ino, which happened at her very right side.

"Oh, just can it already, Ino. Seriously, women are so troublesome about these things... What does a guy like Sasuke has to offer, anyway?" asked Shikamaru. Ino snorted at hearing Shikamaru's rant. "What? You really have no idea?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not a girl, so... nope." he answered. "But I do know that his personality is not something worthy of appraisal. Well, not in my books, at least. Even Naruto's a better folk than he is."

Ino simply groaned in response. Men... what did they know...? Then it hit her. "By the way... Naruto's arrival was... really curious, right?" she asked. "I mean... who would imagine Naruto, of all people, getting a decent taste in clothes? I might actually pay more attention to him, if the clothes are any indications of any other changes."

"You know, Shika? You should be more like those two. You're lazy, and you're as troublesome as your saying goes. I would hate having you as a teammate." After she said that, though, Iruka's voice could be heard again by the clan heirs.

"Team Ten, led by Sarutobi Asuma... Yamanaka Ino! Nara Shikamaru!"

…Well, shit.

Shikamaru snorted. "Feh... Well, as troublesome as it seems now, you're stuck with the lazy sloth here..." Ino simply growled in anger. Her day so far ended up being a shitty day. Not being on Sasuke's team, as Sakura got the glorious spot as his teammate, getting stuck with Shikamaru of all people... could it get any worse...?

"And Akimichi Chouji!"

…

…

…Maybe that would teach Ino to keep her thoughts to herself.

Said Akimichi only wolfed down more potato chips, as he took a quick glance at his long time buddy sitting at his side, raising a smile and offering him a few of the salty goodies. Shikamaru accepted them. At this time Naruto raised his hand. Iruka looked at him and simply asked: "Yes, Naruto?"

"Uhhh... not to sound rude or anything, Iruka-sensei..." he said. "but I say these team formations are a load of bullshit."

**[End OST]**

That statement raised a turmoil at the classroom. Sakura was the first to answer. "As if a dumb loser like you would know anything about team formations! Iruka-sensei told us that the teams were properly balanced and chosen by a specialized team of Jounin, including the Hokage himself. You're just annoyed because you're on the same team as Sasuke-kun!"

Seeing a few people agree with her and pointing out how stupid he was, Naruto looked at Iruka, pleading for a little help. Iruka used his **Dai Kitou no Jutsu** to quiet down the class. "*whew* Now then... Would you elaborate on what you said, Naruto?" he gently asked. Naruto took a deep breath to explain his reasoning.

"There are way too many messed up teams. Mine is a pretty good example. An all-out front assault team with no **Kanchi Taipu*** and nearly zero chances of building up teamwork? Seriously? We'd be lucky to survive 2 days outside of Konoha... Team Eight is also pretty bad. They're ALL **Kanchi Taipu**, but only one member is actually capable of long-range attacks, and their range of techniques are too limited by their clan origins. The only team I actually think it's pretty balanced is Team Ten, and that's because they're long time buddies."

"Not being disrespectful with Hokage-jiji and the other Jounin, but... these teams suck."

Meanwhile, part of the Jounin senseis that were selected this years shouted obscenities to the crystal ball that showed Naruto inside the classroom, as they were all inside the Hokage's office. Hiruzen smiled amusingly at the young Uzumaki's antics. To come up with such an insult to his team selection... yup, he was becoming smarter by each passing day. Damn, those **Kage Bunshins** helped a lot.

A silver-haired Jounin with a mask covering his face and his hitaiate covering his left eye looked at Naruto in his own cool, almost bored way, as some people would put it. But underneath it all, he was really impressed with the young Jinchuuriki. "_Uzumaki... Naruto..._"

Back at the young Jinchuuriki, everyone looked at him like he grew a second head. He wasn't exactly known as the smartest in the class, for starters, so it's not like ANYONE expected him to come up with such a logic reasoning for his rant. Iruka chuckled at seeing everyone's reaction.

"Well, I gotta hand it to you, Naruto." he said, proud of his surrogate otouto. "Quite thoughtful perceptions you got there. But nevertheless, these were the teams designed by the Jounin and Hokage-sama, so it's their final say – and order. Besides, your team was actually set because of the usual tradition of the lucky 7..."

"Oh, I know that set!" he said. "The top couple and the dead last... wait a minute. I'm the dead last, right?" he asked. Iruka shrugged and nodded, putting his hands in a 'sorry, it couldn't be helped' position. Everyone else just laughed at seeing Naruto twitching his eyes. He merely sighed.

"Nah, no biggie." Naruto answered. "Once I'm Hokage, I'm changing all of that. Might as well endure it like a proper shinobi while it lasts, -Dattebayo!" he said, flashing his usual fox-grin for everyone to see.

Some things never change...

"Okay, then." said Iruka. "You'll meet your Jounin senseis after lunch break. Dismissed!"

* * *

**A few minutes later, outside the Academy...**

"Wait a minute, Sakura-chan!" shouted a rushing Naruto. Sakura popped a vein from her forehead. Honestly, when would Naruto ever learn that she was off-limits as far as he was concerned? She turned around to face him, ready to punch him if it needs be. "What do you want?" she asked, in a rather venomous tone.

"Um... you know, being teammates and all, I figured that I'd call you and Sasuke to have lunch. While we're at it, how about I help you finding Sasuke, huh?" he asked. Sakura took a step around to walk away, but not before rejecting his offer the way she always did.

"And why would either me or Sasuke-kun ever have lunch with someone like _you_, huh?" she spat, starting to walk away, while shouting 'Sasuke-kuuuun! Where are you?! Sasuke-kuuuun!' Naruto just sighed. "_Oh, man. She really doesn't give a damn about me, doesn't she...?_" he thought. "_And here I was thinking she might like my new looks and all... Heck, I even put Sasuke-teme on the equation, aiming to please! What a drag... Shikamaru was right. Women _are_ troublesome indeed._"

And with that, he started walking towards the tree with a swing he always played with, by his own. Sitting there, he thought about how he would be able to approach Sakura and Sasuke, and how to find them. A light bulb lit inside him, meaning that he found a solution for his small tracking problem. His grin was a bit evil, if you paid attention enough...

He formed his favorite cross sign. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" he shouted, creating two clones. They already had in mind the plan Naruto devised, so they went their own way. A few seconds later, Naruto noticed three people leaving the building.

Team Eight.

Seeing them, Naruto quickly rose from the swing he was sitting on, approaching them. "Hey guys!" shouted the blond-haired Uzumaki. Hinata shouted a faint 'Eep!' and stood behind Kiba. The Inuzuka turned his head to see who was shouting at them. "Oh... Hey there Naruto!" he answered. "What are you doing here, all by yourself? Shouldn't you be, you know... hanging out with your team?"

"I tried..." he deadpanned. "It didn't work so well... *sigh* I even offered Sakura-chan my assistance to find Teme and have lunch with them, and she cut me off. *chuckle* So much for teamwork, right...?"

"That is most unfortunate, indeed." said Shino, adjusting his sunglasses. "We are heading to the bakery right now for our first lunch as a team. Are you willing to come with us, Naruto? Even if you're not our teammate, you're still a good friend to Kiba, and leaving a friend's friend alone is bad manners."

Naruto rose both eyebrows. Did someone just ask him if he'd like to accompany them for lunch? That did NOT happen every day. Now that was an opportunity he didn't want to miss. Maybe he would get to know Shino and Hinata better, he regretted not having the chance to befriend them before today.

Besides, the bakery was a couple blocks away from his house, and he wanted to pick up something he forgot there, so that only made his day even better. With the best smile he could muster, and his eyes open this time, for Hinata's delight, he answered:

"Sure. I'd love to."

* * *

**With Kage Bunshin 1 – Somewhere close to the Academy Deposit**

The first clone summoned by Naruto looked frantically for his target. For a moment, he thought about asking the fangirls if they ever laid eyes on Uchiha Sasuke after the gathering's been adjourned. But he dismissed the thought due to the fact that he was a little bit too handsome today of all days to talk to them. The original got himself quite the attention today, thanks to his almost dashing-prince-like appearance and his very nicely brushed Yondaime-like flocking blonde hair.

That, and the fact that he was a **Kage Bunshin**, easily susceptible to any bone-crushing version of affections performed by girls and the like, so he'd steer clear for now.

So he did the next best thing: test out one of Kushina's chakra tracking seals. He wrote his teammate's name on the paper tag, and with a brush and ink he drew the kanji '**Kanchi**' over the name. He performed the hand signs Tiger, Monkey and Ram, and whispered: "**Fuuinjutsu: Chakura Kanchi.***" he put his right hand over the paper, and with the left he touched his forehead.

"**Locate!**"

Being a **Kage Bunshin**, the clone felt his lifespan reduced. But he was now able to locate his target. 2 hours, 120 meters. He dashed to that direction. Getting there, the sight was not an admirable one.

Uchiha Sasuke, leaning his back on the corner of a window, eating a onigiri, eyes lost in thought. Not that it wasn't anything he didn't see before. It was a sad sight, really. Ever since the guy lost his family 5 years ago, he spent the entirety of his time brooding, acting like he was all high and mighty and staying far away from... well, everybody, really. He actually used to smile! Now he barely smirks. And who knows what he thinks so much about, brooding all day long. But hey, that's something he would get to know in time, being teammates and all that shit...

Right now, if Naruto could read the Uchiha's mind, the thoughts in his head would be something like this:

"_He's changed... next time I'm seeing the usura-tonkachi, I'm challenging him to a battle. I'm not sure why, but he seems stronger, and if my guess is right, he'll not be such a drag to deal with in this team formation... At least it'll help me, even if just a bit, to make me stronger... and kill _that man_..._" However, before thinking about how he would approach Naruto to begin with, he heard a voice right beside his left ear.

"Yo."

He almost fell from the window we was leaning into. Sasuke actually had to catch up with his breath due to the scare Naruto gave him right now.

And that because it was just a clone, mind you...

Said clone had to hold his breath so he wouldn't laugh his ass off now. He actually made the mighty Uchiha survivor to jump his feet from a good scare, almost shitting his pants in the process! Man, that was so worthy of a picture or two... Now, if only that memory could be burned down in his mind for the original's pleasure... Oh wait, it could. **Kage Bunshin** and all that stuff.

Win. So much win today.

"What the fuck are you doing here, dobe?" asked the not-so-mighty-now Uchiha. The clone only snickered. "Oh, come on now, Sasuke-chan! You don't have to be scared by little old me... I promise I won't tell anyone about what happened, okay? Let's just have a nice talk, you and me. As all teammates should, really. Sakura-chan was so mean to me..." he said, wiping a fake tear.

Although he did feel bad for being ignored by Sakura, but never mind. Sasuke didn't have to know...

"You did pester her a lot at the Academy, of course she would be mean to you..." he answered, giving Naruto a furious glare because of that 'Sasuke-chan' thing. No one calls him -chan, for Kami's sake. "As a matter of fact, everyone's got a reason to either keep away or close to you. Because you're the dead last, ass-clown, loud, obnoxious, spoony idiot of our class. How the hell do you actually come up with so many bad names for yourself, huh?"

"By doing the bare minimum... just like Shikamaru, really. No, wait... that's not right. I actually worked my ass off, didn't I...?" Naruto shrugged. "But hey, let's change subjects. As much as I'd love to talk about my awesome self, I don't mind hearing what you have to say. So... anything you like to do besides just emoing around? Training, gardening... have any animals in your house?"

"Why would I have animals?"

"Hey, you have a chicken's butt for a hair, I think taking care of animals kinda suits you."

That did it. Sasuke decided to shut Naruto's mouth with the best approach he knew for the last six years. And that was to kick his ass. He punched him, making the clone fall on the ground. However, before he could do anything else, a puff of smoke took place, revealing a log. Sasuke shouted a quick "What the...?" before he turned around due to a random shout saying 'GO!'. And what happened then...

Well, to sum it all up, things have just gone ape shit for the Uchiha.

**[Naruto OST: Ike Ike Naruto!]**

Because right now, a gang of six Narutos jumped towards him and started restraining him from all direction. 'Hold still!' 'You're mine now!' and 'Resistance is futile!' were many of the shouts given by the knuckleheads surrounding Sasuke and tying his limbs to a few ropes. Before he took another second to process everything that was happening right now, Sasuke had his feet and hands tied up, and his mouth gagged.

It just had to be the second worst day of his life right now... a moment ago he caught himself thinking about a guy who was supposedly the greatest loser in the history of Konohagakure no Sato, and had now become the second greatest enigma he wanted to solve before he died. And now he was pinned down by said loser, who seemed to have mastered a B-rank kinjutsu. And not just any B-rank kinjutsu, mind you, but the Kami damn **Kage Bunshin**! Didn't he suck at making clones? Wasn't that the reason he failed the exam? And what was he doing with a hitaiate, anyway?

Well, he was too pissed by the humiliation he was suffering right now to care about these thought, so he just went on his way to shout, or rather mumble 'Mmph meeph omph!' (Let me go!) Naruto snickered, crouching close to Sasuke, putting a hand over his ear and asking: "What was that? I couldn't hear ya, man! It's like you got a... what was that again, soldier?" he asked to one of his clone brethren.

"A lisp?" answered one.

"A gag!" answered another.

"Hey, that's not how it works, you idiot!" said a third. "Yon can't mean it literally, you have to make a pun to make the joke laughable!"

"Don't call me idiot, idiot! If you haven't noticed, we are the same, -Dattebayo!"

"We might be the same, but we're **Kage Bunshins**! We're prompt to have different personalities anyway. So from what I see, you're an idiot!"

"Why you-"

And then, right there, all Bunshins started to bicker amongst themselves. Sasuke was already silent, simply watching the group of morons discussing over such a trivial matter as... a fucking gag joke. "_I take that back, he's still the same idiot!_" he thought. "_Only slightly more dangerous with this __**Kage Bunshin**__, that's all._" The Uchiha boy quickly took advantage of the heated discussion in the room to use the **Nawanuke no Jutsu***. At last free from those darned ropes, he smirked. He beat Naruto a few times already, but now he felt REALLY happy to beat him to a bloody pulp. Even if they were just clones.

"Payback time, usura-tonkachi..."

**[End OST]**

* * *

**Back with Naruto and company...**

"Okay, guys." said Naruto, at the front gate of his parents house, while Team Eight looked in admiration the place Naruto lived. "I'll get something here real quick, and then we'll head to the bakery." he said, pressing a kunai against his thumb to draw a few drops of blood and open the gate. Hinata and Kiba gasped in shock to the method Naruto used to unlock his house, while Shino adjusted his glasses.

Why? Logically, because is was his way of raising eyebrows to something that piqued his curiosity.

As they saw Naruto enter the house, Kiba gave a low whistle. "Never thought Naruto of all people lived in a place like this... You figured that being a no-clan orphan, he'd live in... I don't know, an apartment complex... Right, Akamaru? *yip yip* Yeah, you said it..." he looked at his Hyuuga teammate. She looked off-minded. A bit more than usual, anyway.

Just like he was a good friend to Shino, he was quite acquainted with the Hyuuga heiress, so most of the time he knew when something bothered her. "Come on now, tell me what you're thinking." he said, making Hinata stiffen a bit. "Look, I might be stupid, but not as much as Naruto. I might not smell what you feel, but I can definitely sense you're sweating. And surprisingly, it's not a reaction from pheromones, so it means you know something and you're not telling."

Hinata blushed a deep red at first, by hearing Kiba mentioning pheromones. Usually they meant puberty, and that meant changes in people's anatomy, and they also meant other thoughts... Oh, Kami dammit! Another person knew about her 'secret' crush. She just wanted to crawl on a hole and die right now. What if her father knew of this? It would be the end for her! Just another add-up to the pile of stupidities committed by her, the 'Hyuuga failure'.

Then Kiba mentioned that she knew something and was not telling. Okay, now that got her too. For a while, as she stalk-, ahem... _followed_ Naruto around, she knew where he lived. It wasn't exactly the best place to live, mind you. It was right a couple blocks across Konoha's **Akatou Sakai***, so she knew Naruto had it bad when it came to living conditions.

And now he had this house. A fancy-looking one. Locked by blood seals. Those things were usually reserved for clans that held secrets of the highest degree. Not even the four noble clans of Konoha were that paranoid to use them to lock even the front gate. And even so, blood seals were not that easy to come by to begin with, despite the formulas being relatively easy.

Well, for fuuinjutsu specialists, that is...

"A-ano..." she mumbled, making her teammates' ears perk up a bit. "Naruto-kun... h-he used to live a-around the slums not too long ago... a-and the way this house is locked tight... it's almost like a c-clan estate. N-not even the Hyuuga complex uses blood seals, so..."

"You're assuming that once Naruto became a proper shinobi, expected to fulfill responsibilities that are often dealt with by adults, he's inherited this house and its secrets from whatever clan he belongs to. Is that what is on your mind, Hinata?" Shino asked, getting a nod from the shy Hyuuga heiress. Kiba widened his eyes, and Akamaru gave a 'what the...?' whim.

"Naruto? The dead-last of our group... is from a clan?" the Inuzuka said, unable to believe in what they had just discovered. "Then... how does that explain his attitude and his grades?"

"Says the one who's the second to dead-last..." Shino answered, in a rare moment where he joked with Kiba. Hinata couldn't help but giggle at Shino's humor attempt and Kiba's low growl of annoyance. "Regardless of grades and attitude, though..." Shino continued. "Naruto's been acting like that for as long as we know him... and if my logic assumptions are correct, I believe that he did that to have the attention and acknowledgment of his shinobi peers, the civilians and us, his classmates. He _is_ an orphan, after all. He didn't have anyone to support him..."

"B-but that's not all..." said Hinata. "F-for some unknown reason... m-most of the adults look at him... almost as if Naruto-kun was..." she couldn't finish. The words were just not there to describe the way everyone, for some reason, abhorred him and did everything in their power to keep the children away from Naruto.

But before they could dwell any further on this matter, the sound of a door opening and quickly closing could be heard. "Sorry for taking so long..." said Naruto, now holding what it seemed to be a book. "Couldn't find this damn thing anywhere. Oh well, shall we go to the bakery now?" he asked, wide smile across his face. He was just too happy to share lunch with someone that wasn't Iruka to care about anything else, really.

As everyone walked towards the bakery, entering the commercial district, Team Eight felt a sudden chill in their spines. When they looked for the source of the chill, it was hard to keep a straight face. The people, that stopped doing whatever they were doing and looked at Naruto with contempt, disgust... and hatred. Worst of all were the endless whispers. People were definitely talking bad things about Naruto, and it pissed them off. So they decided to make their own investigation.

They WERE a tracking unit, after all... right?

Kiba was able to make up what a few of them were saying, thank to his advanced hearing. Hinata was able to read their lips, even without the **Byakugan**, and Shino's bugs were also doing their job. What the people said disturbed them. A lot. A whole fucking lot.

'What is that _monster_ doing here?'

'Did you see the way he walks? And the clothes he's wearing? Where do you think he stole them from?'

'Damned demon... doesn't Hokage-sama care for us, letting that _thing_ become a shinobi?'

And the worst of all...

'We should have killed the monster when Yondaime-sama turned it into a helpless baby. Now it mocks us, stealing his appearance! As I would expect from the _demon fox_...'

Their eyes widened in shock when they put two and two together. Demon fox? As in the Kyuubi no Youko? But that's impossible, the beast was dead! It said very clearly in the Academy books, the Yondaime killed it.

...Right?

Then why would people refer to the Kyuubi whenever they looked at Naruto? And what did that man mean when he said that Naruto stole his appearance?

Taking a better look at him... indeed, Naruto looked a lot like the Yondaime. The hair and the eyes, mostly... Now they were really curious. Who in the world was Uzumaki Naruto? Why did people treat him like the fox that almost destroyed Konoha? Who did he inherit that house from? And even his looks... was he related to Namikaze Minato in any way? No one's ever noticed before, but Naruto's new-found resemblance to the late Hokage was just too disturbing not to pay attention anymore.

As Shikamaru would say, 'troublesome blondie...'

* * *

**With Kage Bunshin 2 – close to the Academy playground...**

The second clone walked around, looking for his teammate Haruno Sakura. He would either convince her to have lunch together, dispel trying, or stay in the background, just in case. You could never be too careful, you know? And that just so happened to be the proper time to stay in the background, because right now he could feel three chakra signatures that felt very familiar.

Team Ten, having lunch. Well, Chouji at least. Shikamaru was just looking at the clouds and Ino was talking about something. She seemed pissed, shouting something about 'talking to the walls'. Typical of Shikamaru and Chouji, really...

But then again, when no one pays attention to what you're saying, you'd be pretty pissed too.

The clone noticed that Sakura stopped walking when she heard Ino's shouting. "Ino-buta! Having lunch here, of all places?" she shouted, getting the attention of the trio of old-time buddies. Ino quickly answered. "Why, of course. I'm having lunch with _my team_." she said, both mocking and cursing. "What about you? Shouldn't YOU be having lunch with Sasuke-kun and Naruto? They are in your team, aren't they?"

"As if I would _ever_ stay ten feet close to that loser. And I couldn't find Sasuke-kun..." Sakura said, obviously down in the dumps. Ino shrugged. "Okay, fine... just for old times' sake, you can join us, Dekoriin-chan. Pick your spot to seat." Sakura gave her a faint smile and sat close to Chouji. Even if they were in a truce, nothing would make her sit alongside Ino.

I mean... she _was_ her rival when it came to Sasuke, right?

Meanwhile, the Naruto clone stood a few meters away, listening to the conversation everyone was having. In a few minutes, he became the subject at hand, when Shikamaru said this line:

"Meh... I told Ino an hour ago. Sasuke is not on my good guys book. He's too troublesome in my opinion... Naruto's definitely one of the dudes, though. Even if he _is_ a bit air-headed." If it weren't for the fact that the Nara was among friends and teammates, AND that he wasn't an annoying pest like Naruto, Sakura would've punched him.

Then Chouji did a smart remark, for everyone's surprise. "That reminds me... What do you guys think of him right now? He seemed different. Not only his clothes, but his voice tone and all... it was almost as if he grew a few years ahead."

"Feh! As if..." said Sakura. "As far as I know, he's still the same idiot who hopes to go out on a date with me. Do you guys believe he actually used my feelings for Sasuke-kun to try to take me out for lunch? He said all that blabber about 'we are teammates and all, so let's have lunch all three together'. Honestly, he really thinks I'm falling for that..."

"As if you wouldn't use that excuse to have lunch with Sasuke-kun..." said Ino. "That's hypocrisy right there, Dekoriin-chan. Look, I'm not fond of these two idiots here as well." Chouji and Shikamaru rolled their eyes. "But we're teammates now, just like our fathers were before, so we might as well stay together and let things work out. Besides, even I admit that Naruto looked quite different indeed."

"Think about it. There was a free spot where we were sitting. You'd think that Naruto would leap in joy at the chance of sitting next to you. Instead, he chose to sit besides Hinata. And they were having a conversation of all things! Seriously now, if that is not a sign of something that made Naruto change, I don't know what else is. And on another note... I thought he looked smoking hot without the orange. Who could imagine him, of all people, looking like a prince? He got my curiosity, alright, and I'm getting to the bottom of this!"

That particular statement made everyone, Naruto included, drop their jaws. Who knew Ino had eyes for boys that were not Sasuke? Or maybe she was just teasing around, like the Gossip Queen she was.

Oh, wait...

Beauty is a topic she doesn't mess around.

Okay, she's serious about Naruto. The blonde Uzumaki had just become part of her 'mysteries to solve' list. It was official now, she would AT LEAST talk to him on a regular basis, and at most accompany Hinata on her, ahem... _activities_. That line of thought made everyone shiver.

Except Naruto... he didn't exactly knew about this particular hobby of his Hyuuga admirer.

"Whoa whoa whoa stop right there, Ino-buta!" said Sakura, still skeptic about what she had just heard. "Are you serious? You really think about _that_ from the dead-last? I know Naruto, he's loud, obnoxious, annoying, unreliable and downright dumb!"

"Sakura..." said Shikamaru, although said Haruno girl didn't listen.

"Sure, he might have got some new clothes and all, but that doesn't change anything! He's nothing short of a pest, who gets in the way of my love life and gets in trouble with the whole village... You'd think that he had a normal childhood, but no... Speaking of which, he's an orphan, right?"

Meanwhile, the clone watching them flinched a bit with the sensitive subject. Ino had a look of someone who didn't like where this conversation was heading to AT ALL. Shikamaru called Sakura's attention again.

"Oi, Sakura! You might wanna-"

"Good for him, though... I mean, if I did the things he does, my parents wouldn't let me do anything for days! He's actually lucky, if you think about it for a second. He can do anything he does without fear of retaliation. I wish I had the same freedom he has to mischief around and-"

"Damn it all to hell, you troublesome woman, SHUT UP!"

Sakura froze for a moment. Did Shikamaru really lose his cool? She took notice of her surroundings and saw Ino burning holes with her glare, and Chouji shaking his head in what seemed to be disappointment. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Something I said?"

Oh no, she didn't...

"Everything you said, really..." said Chouji. "I mean... think about it for a second. Being orphan is not a nice thing at all... you got it backwards. Being all alone and without parents to help you and support you... It must be horrible for those who live like that. I honestly don't know how Naruto can take it..."

Ino was taking a few deep breaths and relaxing her fists. Seriously, she was about to bleed from the strength of her clench. "Tou-chan works as a psychiatrist at times... and he tends to many orphans, even at home. I see and feel their suffering and angst. It makes me wanna punch a hole through the wall to get over it. Don't you ever dare to say such things about orphans again!" she shouted.

Ino leaned her head down, facing the ground. Tears fell from her platinum blue eyes. "I actually hope Naruto can ever forgive me for mistreating him... I failed to see underneath his attitude. He always seemed so happy, cheerful and carefree that I totally forgot about it. Are all blondies like me and him like that? *chuckle* Now I know why Shikamaru call us troublesome..."

"Only you, Ino... only you." said Shikamaru. "Naruto might be a bit troublesome folk, but he's not to blame, really... If I was ignored and mistreated like he was, I'd pretty much have given up already, to spare me from all that drag that gets in your life..."

"I should have approached him earlier... Chouji, Kiba and I... we hanged out with him all the time, and we've never done more for him than we should. I mean... did you guys ever seen him smile with his eyes open?"

Everyone but Sakura and the clone watching from afar gasped in shock. It was true, they never noticed those things. But now that Shikamaru mentioned...

"It's true..." Ino said, a hand over her mouth. "Dear Kami... what have we done to him...?" It looked like she was about to cry again. Sakura didn't understand where any of this was going. "Look guys..." she said. "I am sorry. Truly, I am. But could you guys make it more clear to me? If this is a shinobi thing, I don't get it. What is so important about Naruto's eyes, anyway?"

"Everything..." Chouji answered. "Shinobi can leak a lot on information through the way their eyes react to certain things. Say, for instance, you see a dead body. What are your first reactions?"

"Fear. And disgust. Also a little bit of despair. Why?"

"There you have it. Now the enemy can use a genjutsu to create a dead body of one of your friends, and your basic reactions will take over your thoughts, making you easy to kill. All because of your eyes."

"They also give away emotions..." said Shikamaru. "By looking a person in the eye, you can see if they are lying, or happy... or sad. The only way to mask these emotions is either by practicing for years, or..."

"Keeping them closed when the situation demands it..." Ino concluded. "In Naruto's case, whenever his eyes were closed when he smiled is because..."

"His eyes would lie about the true nature of his smile..." said Sakura, finally getting the bigger picture. "So... every time he was running around, with that goofy smile of his... It was actually a mask? So people wouldn't know that he was actually hurt?"

"Not EVERY single time, but far more than anyone would take it, seriously..." Shikamaru answered. "Chouji is right. Naruto's gotta be a pretty badass folk to take on such unheard levels of pain and still manage to mask it all through that smile of his... And today he's shown some of his true colors just to confuse us all."

"Troublesome blondie... his deception skills are something else... whose idea was to brand him the dead-last of our class again?"

The clone kept watching them, touched with Shikamaru, Chouji, and even Ino's remarks on the blond-haired Jinchuuriki's defense. "_It seems Boss had just made some new friends today..._" he thought. That helped. A lot, really. Friends are what makes the world go round, at least on Naruto's point of view.

Sakura leaned her head to the ground, ashamed of her attitude towards Naruto. She just wanted to stay away from him now, and for an entirely different reason than usual. "_He's full of reasons to hate me for what I did to him, and he's still willing to make my day better... I'm such an idiot!_" she thought. "_Maybe... next time... I might wanna be nicer to him. He's my teammate from now on, for starters..._"

Chouji looked at Shikamaru. His good friend had just riddled part of the mysteries surrounding his Uzumaki buddy, but even so, it was just the tip of the iceberg for all of them... "_Next time I go to Yakuni-Q, Naruto's going too. I have to know his true self. I won't let any buddy of mine down in the dumps!_"

Shikamaru's thoughts were also focused on his blond-haired friend. "_Damn blondie... just when I think I have everything figured out, he waltz in with new clothes, attitude... and his smile was not fake like always... What happened these last two weeks...? How come he graduated, and why was he looked down upon in the first place...? This puzzle is far from over. Mendukse naa...*_"

And last, but certainly not least, Ino. "_I truly hope he forgives me..._" she thought. "_Shikamaru's kinda right in a way... Naruto seems a lot more than I gave him credit for before. And he actually got handsome overnight! Damn it all, he got mysterious all of a sudden. And that's a job fit for the Gossip Queen of Konoha! Prepare yourself, Uzumaki Naruto, because you're my new prey!_"

* * *

**Back at Naruto and Team Eight, Onigi Bakery & Restaurant...**

"Itadakimasu!" shouted the four newly-graduate shinobi gathered at one of the tables outside the bakery. At least Naruto and Kiba did the shouting, that is. Hinata and Shino whispered, while Akamaru yipped. Naruto chose to have zenzai* for lunch. Shino's choice was a simple plate of gohan*. Kiba shared with Akamaru a plate of rice, beans and beef. And last, but not least, Hinata went for cinnamon rolls.

Surprisingly, Naruto had no troubles whatsoever with the owner of the bakery, Onigi-san. But then again, the baker was well aware that his favorite customer, the Hyuuga heiress, was _really_ fond of the boy, so he would make sure that Naruto had a proper meal.

They talked a lot. Naruto eagerly talked about the training he's been up to (without ever mentioning his usage of **Kage Bunshins**) and some of his new-found hobbies, as well as some of his most notorious pranks. Shino and Hinata didn't say much at all, and Kiba was bragging about his supposed leadership skills back at the old gang's days. Naruto didn't forget to mention, to everyone but Kiba's amusement that he only led the old gang back then because Shikamaru was too lazy, Chouji was o busy eating and Naruto was too loud for anyone to take him seriously.

Of course, said statement made the temperature around the table drop a few degrees. Hearing about Naruto being mistreated even back then was too painful, specially due to the information gathered by Team Eight so far concerning their young Jinchuuriki buddy.

As their lunch was nearing its end, Kiba's curiosity got the best of him. "Say, Naruto..." he said, munching a few pieces of beef left. "*gulp* You got a pretty nice house back there, man..."

"Oh, thanks Kiba." answered the young Uzumaki. "And... *munch munch gulp* let me guess... you wanna know more about it..."

"Actually..." said Shino. "We've been wondering about many things concerning you, such as your well-being and the way people address you... Logically, we're worried about the villagers' lack of manners towards one such as you, whose worst fault at best was that prank with the Hokage Monument 3 weeks ago..."

"B-but..." Hinata continued. "We d-don't want you to t-think that... ano… I mean... We, um... we're here for you, N-Naruto-kun." Her face was beaming red. In her mind, it sounded like a small affectionate confession.

**[Naruto Unreleased OST: Sakura's Theme 2nd version]**

Naruto couldn't help but smile at them. Sure, they were curious about the secrets surrounding him, but most of all, they were honestly trying to build bonds of friendship, and that warmed his heart.

He made his decision.

"Look, guys..." he answered. "Thank you... a lot. It means a lot to me... to have people who support me. But there are a few secrets surrounding me that are best kept in secret. If you find out about them, of course, you can confront me and Hokage-ojiichan about it, and we'll be happy. But for me to tell you personally... It's another thing entirely."

"Most of them are S-rank secrets with severe penalties for spilling them out anyway, so I might as well keep my mouth shut. And if you guy either find out on your own or get the story from the horse's mouth, it'd be a VERY good idea to keep it zipped as well..."

"I like you three. Way more than I like my team anyway..." said statement earned him a smirk from Kiba and a friendly yip from Akamaru, a head nod from Shino and a blushed 'eep' from Hinata. "But I'm still not 100% sure how you're gonna take it if I just outright tell you. It's pretty heavy stuff right there."

"Besides..." he said, lifting himself up from the chair. "You're a tracking and investigation unit. Why not put these skills to use, huh? Think of it as my own way to entrust you with my secrets... Wait here while I pay for the food."

"Moron!" Kiba shouted, also lifting and punching Naruto's arm. "We were the ones who invited you, so that means we are gonna pay. Isn't that right, Akamaru? *yip yip*"

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at those two's antics. She also thought it was very noble of Naruto to pay for a lunch he's been invited to. Shino adjusted his sunglasses as he and his female teammate left the table, joining Naruto and Kiba at the counter to pay for their lunch.

On the way back to the Academy, Hinata seemed a bit more confident to talk a little. Mostly about the things she liked to do in her free time (besides watching Naruto from a distance). Shino actually talked a bit as well. Of course, it was mostly related to his most recent findings in his insect encyclopedia.

But hey, whatever suits him better... he actually managed to talk about _something_, so everyone was happy.

Naruto, much to everyone's surprise, decided to stay quiet for the better part of the conversation, choosing to listen to his new friends instead. He seemed much calmer than usual. Ever when everyone noticed the return of the unpleasant glares and whispers, Naruto's calmness seemed to soothe everyone. It was nothing short of incredible.

Except in two certain moments, when Naruto seemed like he was having a headache, putting a hand on his head and looking a bit dizzy. In the first moment, he seemed annoyed and grumbling something about 'stupid clones' and 'stupid Sasuke'. The second moment made him smile, for some reason. Strange, indeed...

But what the hell... Team Eight would leave these matters for another time. Naruto was a nice person, and they would get to know him the proper way around, even if he did let them do their investigation regarding his secrets.

Because that's what friends do.

**[End OST]**

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the front gate of Naruto's House...**

"So what do you think...?" asked Sarutobi Hiruzen, as he looked at the person accompanying him. It was that same silver-haired masked Jounin. He looked at the house with longing eyes. So many sad memories rushed through his mind... but also many good ones. Hiruzen opened the front gate, leading the way to the door.

Arriving at the living/dining room, the Jounin couldn't help but admire Naruto's nice work in bringing the old house back to life. He looked at the table with the picture of Minato, Kushina and the yet unborn Naruto. It was his only family picture, and it stood in a very nice spot. Whoever came in would be received with open arms by this loving shinobi family.

"_Sensei... Kushina-san..._" the Jounin thought. "_You'd be proud of him if you could see him right now... I hope I can be a good role model for him, just like you two were for me... I'll see to it._"

"Well, I wish you good luck, Kakashi." said Hiruzen. "Your team is quite the unique one. The Haruno girl is quite smart, but her infatuation with the Uchiha survivor might be a problem... And Naruto might look a lot like Minato, but his attitude and unpredictability are definitely inherited from Kushina. Be careful..."

"Hai, hai... I understand, Hokage-sama..." he answered. "_Why can't I ever get the easy ones..._"

This would be an interesting team alright... Maybe he'd actually pass them on his test...

Of course, that was just a possibility...

* * *

**A/N: Whew! I'm finally done with this chapter. Took me a while to write it. I noticed that I made quite a mistake last chapter, which was forgetting to translate/explain some stuff that were either written in Japanese language or are part of its culture, so I'll go over them. Whenever you guys read something and this - * - appeared, it will be translated for the sake of your reading experience.**

* * *

**Translations:**

**(Starting from the ones of last chapter, which I didn't translate)**

**Hallway between front door and living room** -In Japan, most houses have an usually empty hallway that separates the front door and the actual rooms of the house. It's mostly part of Buddhist/Shintoist culture. The Japanese people use these hallways as a way to ward off any evil energies they brought from outside, as well as receiving the good energies from within the house before leaving.

**Tadaima and O kaeri (or O kaerinasai)** - "I'm home" and "Welcome back", respectively.

**Kore** - "Hey!" it's simple as that, really.

**Omago-sama** – Honorable Grandson.

**Oyabun** – Boss.

**Hi no Ishi** – Will of Fire.

* * *

**(Now for the translations of this chapter)**

**Shiruko** – Sweet red bean soup. Served either cold or hot, it's a very appreciated sweet in Japan.

**Itadakimasu** – "Thanks for the meal" before you eat. There's also an after you eat version: 'Gochishousama'.

**Ittekimasu** – "I'm going!" as you're leaving the house.

**Ohayo** – "Good morning."

**Dekoriin** – Billboard Brow.

**Shannarou** – it has no literal translation, but it's fair to say that it's the equivalent of 'hell yeah/no' and other variants.

**Usura-tonkachi & Dobe** – the best translations I can come up with are 'stupid failure', 'dead-last' and 'loser'.

**Kanchi Taipu** – Sensor Type. Basically, shinobi specialized in tracking, such as Inuzukas and Hyuugas.

**Akatou Sakai** – Red-light district. Heavy stuff right there.

**Mendukse naa** – "How troublesome..."

**Zenzai** – red bean soup. Unlike the shiruko, it's usually not sweet and the beans are served as a whole instead of being pressed through a strainer like the shiruko, so it's best served as lunch.

**Gohan** – cooked rice. Unlike the onigiri (rice ball), it's served in a normal plate. It's the usual breakfast meal, although it's also pretty common to eat in lunch and dinner as well.

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**Jutsu List**

**Ninpou: Dai Kitou no Jutsu**** (Ninja Art: Large Demon Head Technique) – Enlarges the head of anyone who uses it, giving it a demonic aura for intimidation, torture, and most importantly, to quiet down all students who dare to disturb class. Must be at least Chuunin to perform it. It's classified as a kinjutsu. Rank: S**

**Fuuinjutsu: Chakura Kanchi**** (Sealing Arts: Chakra Sensory) – Special seal that allows one to find and locate any chakra signatures. It has, however, some limitations. First, if said person has a stronger will of not being found, or have some disruption seals of his/her own, the seal will most likely not work.**

**Second, the seal usually only works with people you had some sort of contact before. When you write down the name of the person whose chakra signature you want to locate, you mostly think about said person, including his/her voice, physical traits, personality and others. If someone changes too much over time, or if you barely remember what he/she was like back then, the seal will not work as well.**

**This seals was first developed by Uzumaki Kushina during the Third World Shinobi War. Most of its flaws are still to be corrected. Chakra consumption depends on the aspects mentioned above, as well as the target's own strength and distance. Rank: may vary from E to S depending on said aspects.**

**Ninpou: Nawanuke no Jutsu**** (Ninja Art: Rope Untying Technique) – The name says everything. Basic rope untying. However, ropes enhanced with chakra will most likely not be untied by this jutsu. Rank: E to high D, depending of the user's experience.**

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**Now, I'll go over the things I never hoped to accomplish in this chapter, but I did.**

**First of all, make Ino curious about Naruto. For a moment, the thought of making Ino look at Naruto in another way only AFTER the Nami no Kuni arc seemed like a good idea. But it would require Ino to actually meet him at the Chuunin Shiken and be curious about it for the remainder of the exams. But it looked too hard, because her first impressions at the Academy would make it difficult for a more progressive take later on, so I decided to make her curious now.**

**It's going to be funny writing something like "'excuse me, Ino-san...' said Hinata. 'but this is my spot.'" I know, I know, I'm evil... but you guys love it, right?**

**Second, is Sakura being nicer to Naruto. Sakura in Part 1 was the greatest asshole on the planet. I hate her with a passion. I just had to purge this evil right away, and I'm sure you guys approve it.**

**Third, is Naruto's new-found proficiency with both the Kage Bunshin and the seals he's inherited from his parents. Kushina's seal seemed overpowered right now, but as I just put it on the jutsu list, it does have its flaws, so it will most likely not work in, let's say, the Sasuke Retrieval arc, where Sasuke is too much different to make the seal work. It's simple as that.**

**And last, making Naruto get to know Hinata a bit better and actually talking to her. One thing that pissed me off in the first part is the nearly complete lack of interaction between them. I'm gonna make their interactions frequent, but not entirely romance-based. Naruto still has very few ideas about love. But I have very good intentions for him in the future, specially in the Chuunin Shiken.**

**Believe me, when I put 'LadiesMan!Naruto' in the summary, I was not kidding. This will not exactly be a NaruXHarem story, because I have no intentions of giving him the CRA like most stories do... But he will have various relationships with many different girls nonetheless. And I'll be careful about them as well.**

**So far, I think that it... next chapter we'll have a far better introduction to Kakashi in this story, and it will be test time. Tune in next time, and have a nice day!**


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